get on someone's wick

verb

"get-on-someone-s-wick" is a 17-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“get on someone's wick” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
21
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To annoy or upset someone, especially by repeated disagreeable actions.

Corpus desk

Index EN-get-on-someone-s-wick · get on someone's wick · English

get on someone's wick · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 21 letters
  • VOW-7 7 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "G" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for get on someone's wick
PropertyValue
Headwordget on someone's wick
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters21
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “get on someone's wick” in English

get on someone's wickranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

get on someone's wick is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To annoy or upset someone, especially by repeated disagreeable actions.".

No misspelling variants are generated for get on someone's wick in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Tony Thorne's Dictionary of Contemporary Slang states that wick is a shortening for Hampton Wick as rhyming slang for prick, i.e. penis. The correct English form is get on someone's wick, spelled G-E-T- -O-N- -S-O-M-E-O-N-E-'-S- -W-I-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    To annoy or upset someone, especially by repeated disagreeable actions.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how get on someone's wick appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. His silly questions are really getting on my wick.

Etymology

Tony Thorne's Dictionary of Contemporary Slang states that wick is a shortening for Hampton Wick as rhyming slang for prick, i.e. penis.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "get on someone's wick"?
"get on someone's wick" is spelled G-E-T- -O-N- -S-O-M-E-O-N-E-'-S- -W-I-C-K.
What does "get on someone's wick" mean?
As a verb, "get on someone's wick" means: To annoy or upset someone, especially by repeated disagreeable actions.
What is the origin of the word "get on someone's wick"?
Tony Thorne's Dictionary of Contemporary Slang states that wick is a shortening for Hampton Wick as rhyming slang for prick, i.e. penis. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list