Which to use
“wich” and “wick” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,688
- “wich” frequency rank
- #18,737
- “wick” frequency rank
- 57425
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wich | wick |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of wych (“brine spring or well”). | A braid or bundle of fibre or other porous material (now generally twisted or woven cotton) in a candle, kerosene heater, oil lamp, etc., that draws up a liquid fuel (such as melted tallow or wax, or oil) at one end, to be ignited at the other end to produce a flame. |
Letter map: wich vs wick
Shared letters muted; letters that set wich and wick apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Corpus notes: wich and wick
wich and wick are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - h in “wich” becomes k in “wick”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wich is recorded at frequency rank #38,688, classified as anoun. wick is at rank #18,737, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɪk/.
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 57425, this pair ranks #119,360 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of wich vs wick
Shared letters: ciw. Private to "wich": h. Private to "wick": k.
"wich" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "wick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wich" and "wick" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "wich" or "wick" show up more?
What to do next
You've compared "wich" and "wick". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "wich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wick" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #119,360 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wich" and "wick" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wac vs wich". 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 #119,360 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.