Which to use
“quick” is an adjective and “quicken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,127
- “quick” frequency rank
- #34,655
- “quicken” frequency rank
- 35782
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | quick | quicken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Moving with speed, rapidity or swiftness, or capable of doing so; rapid; fast. | Senses relating to life or states of activity. |
Where the eye mixes quick and quicken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: quick vs quicken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quick is /kwɪk/ while quicken is /ˈkwɪk(ə)n/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “quick” sits inside “quicken”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35782, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
quick is recorded at frequency rank #1,127, classified as anadj, pronounced /kwɪk/. quicken is at rank #34,655, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkwɪk(ə)n/.
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 35782, this pair ranks #308,980 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of quick vs quicken
Shared letters: cikqu. Private to "quick": -. Private to "quicken": en.
"quick" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "quicken" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "quick" and "quicken" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "quick" vs "quicken" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "quick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "quicken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #308,980 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "quick" and "quicken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quiche vs quicken". 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 #308,980 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.