Which to use
“sik” is an adjective and “stink” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,893
- “sik” frequency rank
- #15,922
- “stink” frequency rank
- 56815
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sik | stink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative form of sick (“cool, excellent”). | To have a strong bad smell. |
Letter map: sik vs stink
Shared letters muted; letters that set sik and stink apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. sik runs 3 letters (CVC) against stink's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: sik vs stink
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sik is anadjective and stinkaverb. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56815, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sik is recorded at frequency rank #40,893, classified as anadj. stink is at rank #15,922, tagged as averb, pronounced /stɪŋk/.
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 56815, this pair ranks #123,537 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sik vs stink
Shared letters: iks. Private to "sik": -. Private to "stink": nt.
"sik" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "stink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- stink ← sitnk · sstink · stikn · stinkk · stinnk · stnik · sttink · tsink
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sik" for "stink" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sik" or "stink"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "sik" and "stink".
- Full dictionary entry for "sik" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #123,537 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sik" and "stink" 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 #123,537 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.