Which to use
“thicken” is a verb and “thicket” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,424
- “thicken” frequency rank
- #42,448
- “thicket” frequency rank
- 83872
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thicken | thicket |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make thicker (in the sense of wider). | A dense, but generally small, growth of shrubs, bushes or small trees; a copse. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set thicken and thicket apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: thicken is /ˈθɪkən/ while thicket is /ˈθɪkɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “thicken” becomes t in “thicket”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thicken is recorded at frequency rank #41,424, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈθɪkən/. thicket is at rank #42,448, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈθɪkɪt/.
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 83872, this pair ranks #13,020 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of thicken vs thicket
Shared letters: cehikt. Private to "thicken": n. Private to "thicket": -.
"thicken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "thicket" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "thicken" and "thicket" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "thicken" or "thicket"?
Remembering thicken vs thicket
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “thicken”; for a noun, it's “thicket”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “thicken” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable