Which to use
“thicke” is an adjective and “thicken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,202
- “thicke” frequency rank
- #41,424
- “thicken” frequency rank
- 79626
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thicke | thicken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Obsolete spelling of thick. | To make thicker (in the sense of wider). |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set thicke and thicken apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
thicke and thicken form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “thicke” sits inside “thicken” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79626, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thicke is recorded at frequency rank #38,202, classified as anadj. thicken is at rank #41,424, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈθɪkən/.
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 79626, this pair ranks #21,641 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "thicke" and "thicken" be used interchangeably?
Remembering thicke vs thicken
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “thicke”; for a verb, it's “thicken”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “thicke” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable