wickedvswicketWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wicked is a adjective, wicket is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wicked” is an adjective and “wicket” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,305
“wicked” frequency rank
#13,272
“wicket” frequency rank
20577
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wicked wicket
Definition Evil or mischievous by nature; morally reprehensible. A small door or gate, especially one beside a larger one.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wicked and wicket apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
wicked
6 ch
wicket

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wicked is /ˈwɪkɪd/ while wicket is /ˈwɪkɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “wicked” becomes t in “wicket”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wicked is recorded at frequency rank #7,305, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈwɪkɪd/. wicket is at rank #13,272, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɪkɪt/.

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 20577, this pair ranks #430,118 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wicked vs wicket

Shared letters: ceikw. Private to "wicked": d. Private to "wicket": t.

"wicked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "wicket" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wickediwcked · wciked · wiccked · wicekd · wickde · wickedd · wickked · wikced
  • wicketiwcket · wciket · wiccket · wicekt · wickett · wickket · wickte · wikcet

Frequency comparison

wicked#7,305
wicket#13,272

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wicked" and "wicket" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wicked" is an adjective and "wicket" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wicked" or "wicket"?
"wicked" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,305 in our English list, against #13,272 for "wicket". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wicked vs wicket

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “wicked”; for a noun, it's “wicket”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wicked” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list