wickedvswingedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“wicked” and “winged” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,305
“wicked” frequency rank
#16,387
“winged” frequency rank
23692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wicked winged
Definition Evil or mischievous by nature; morally reprehensible. Having wings.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wicked and winged apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
wicked
6 ch
winged

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. wicked (/ˈwɪkɪd/) and winged (/wɪŋɪd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23692, 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/. winged is at rank #16,387, tagged as anadj, pronounced /wɪŋɪd/.

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 23692, this pair ranks #407,465 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wicked vs winged

Shared letters: deiw. Private to "wicked": ck. Private to "winged": gn.

"wicked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "winged" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wickediwcked · wciked · wiccked · wicekd · wickde · wickedd · wickked · wikced
  • wingediwnged · wigned · winegd · wingde · wingedd · wingged · winnged · wniged

Frequency comparison

wicked#7,305
winged#16,387

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wicked" and "winged" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈwɪkɪd/ versus /wɪŋɪd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "wicked" or "winged"?
"wicked" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,305 in our English list, against #16,387 for "winged". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wicked vs winged

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 “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