Hicks
/hɪks/
"hicks" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Hicks” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,530 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #13,530
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A surname originating as a patronymic derived from Hick, a medieval diminutive of Richard.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Hicks |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /hɪks/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #13,530 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Hicks” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Hicks is 5 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /hɪks/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,530 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for Hicks, with forms such as "hciks", "hhicks", and "hiccks". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "his", "hits", "hike", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Hick + -s. The correct English form is Hicks, spelled H-I-C-K-S.
Definition
- 1A surname originating as a patronymic derived from Hick, a medieval diminutive of Richard.
- 2A placename:
- 3A placename:
Etymology
From Hick + -s.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hciks,hhicks,hiccks,hickks,hickss,hicsk,hikcs,ihcks
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Hicks - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “Hicks”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-I-C-K-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /hɪks/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “his” - see the side-by-side comparison. Hicks vs his
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.