Which to use
“pick” and “pika” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #881
- “pick” frequency rank
- #48,970
- “pika” frequency rank
- 49851
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pick | pika |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A tool used for digging; a pickaxe. | Any of several small, furry mammals, similar to guinea pigs, but related to rabbits, of the genus Ochotona, from the mountains of North America and Asia. |
Where the eye mixes pick and pika
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pick (CVCC) and pika (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses pick with pika
A purely visual mix-up. pick (/pɪk/) and pika (/ˈpiːkə/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49851, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pick is recorded at frequency rank #881, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɪk/. pika is at rank #48,970, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpiːkə/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 49851, this pair ranks #179,692 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pick vs pika
Shared letters: ikp. Private to "pick": c. Private to "pika": a.
"pick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pika" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pick" and "pika" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pick" vs "pika" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pick" and "pika" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pika" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #179,692 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pick" and "pika" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pika vs PPA". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #179,692 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.