Which to use
“wick” is a noun and “wicked” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,737
- “wick” frequency rank
- #7,305
- “wicked” frequency rank
- 26042
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wick | wicked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Evil or mischievous by nature; morally reprehensible. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wick and wicked apart are highlighted. They share 4 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: wick is /wɪk/ while wicked is /ˈwɪkɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “wick” sits inside “wicked”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26042, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wick is recorded at frequency rank #18,737, classified as anoun, pronounced /wɪk/. wicked is at rank #7,305, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈwɪkɪd/.
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 26042, this pair ranks #389,653 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wick vs wicked
Shared letters: cikw. Private to "wick": -. Private to "wicked": de.
"wick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "wicked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wick" and "wicked" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "wick" or "wicked"?
Remembering wick vs wicked
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “wick”; for an adjective, it's “wicked”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wick” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable