Which to use
“picks” and “pricks” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,786
- “picks” frequency rank
- #27,975
- “pricks” frequency rank
- 32761
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | picks | pricks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of pick | plural of prick |
Where the eye mixes picks and pricks
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: picks vs pricks
A purely visual mix-up. picks (/pɪks/) and pricks (/pɹɪks/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32761, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
picks is recorded at frequency rank #4,786, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɪks/. pricks is at rank #27,975, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɹɪks/.
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 32761, this pair ranks #335,135 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of picks vs pricks
Shared letters: cikps. Private to "picks": -. Private to "pricks": r.
"picks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "pricks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "picks" and "pricks" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "picks" or "pricks" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "picks" and "pricks" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "picks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pricks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #335,135 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "picks" and "pricks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pricks vs primus". 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 #335,135 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.