Which to use
“sick” is an adjective and “sook” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,410
- “sick” frequency rank
- #46,187
- “sook” frequency rank
- 47597
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sick | sook |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In poor health; ill. | Alternative spelling of suck. |
Letter map: sick vs sook
Shared letters muted; letters that set sick and sook apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. sick (CVCC) and sook (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Grammar separator: sick vs sook
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sick is anadjective and sookaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47597, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sick is recorded at frequency rank #1,410, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsɪk/. sook is at rank #46,187, tagged as averb.
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 47597, this pair ranks #200,942 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sick vs sook
Shared letters: ks. Private to "sick": ci. Private to "sook": o.
"sick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sook" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sick" and "sook" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sick" or "sook"?
What to do next
You've compared "sick" and "sook". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "sick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sook" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #200,942 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sick" and "sook" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "soca vs sook". 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 #200,942 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.