Which to use
“wick” and “wire” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,737
- “wick” frequency rank
- #3,460
- “wire” frequency rank
- 22197
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wick | wire |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wick and wire apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
wick and wire form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22197, 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/. wire is at rank #3,460, tagged as anoun, pronounced /waɪə(ɹ)/.
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 22197, this pair ranks #418,339 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wick" and "wire" be used interchangeably?
Remembering wick vs wire
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- 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