Which to use
“sift” is a verb and “sik” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,368
- “sift” frequency rank
- #40,893
- “sik” frequency rank
- 69261
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sift | sik |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To sieve or strain (something). | Alternative form of sick (“cool, excellent”). |
Letter map: sift vs sik
Shared letters muted; letters that set sift and sik apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Role in the sentence - sift and sik
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sift is averb and sikanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sift is recorded at frequency rank #28,368, classified as averb, pronounced /sɪft/. sik is at rank #40,893, tagged as anadj.
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 69261, this pair ranks #55,345 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sift vs sik
Shared letters: is. Private to "sift": ft. Private to "sik": k.
"sift" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sik" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sift ← isft · sfit · sifft · siftt · sitf · ssift
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sift" for "sik" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sift" vs "sik" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "sift" and "sik". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "sift" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sik" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #55,345 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sift" and "sik" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sif vs sik". 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 #55,345 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.