icky
/ˈɪki/
"icky" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“icky” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #38,895. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #38,895
- frequency rank, English
- 2,140
- “I” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Unpleasantly sticky; yucky; disgusting.
Corpus desk
Index EN-icky · icky · English
icky · rank #38,895 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #38,895
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,140
- PHOTO-FINISH Iberia
Nearest frequency peer: Iberia (-1 rank slots)
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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “icky”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- hyperactive
hyperactive
61,109 corpus weight
- hysterectomy
hysterectomy
61,108 corpus weight
- Iberia
Iberia
61,107 corpus weight
- icky
icky
61,106 corpus weight
- identically
identically
61,105 corpus weight
- immediacy
immediacy
61,104 corpus weight
What this shows “icky” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | icky |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɪki/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #38,895 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “icky”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around icky (IPA /ˈɪki/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #38,895 among 2,140 “I” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for icky, with forms such as "ciky", "iccky", and "ickky". 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, "IK", "IDK", "ink", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: 1935, American English; from icky-boo (circa 1920): sickly, nauseated; baby talk corruption of sick; from a sentimental term for jazz music. The correct English form is icky, spelled I-C-K-Y.
Definition
- 1Unpleasantly sticky; yucky; disgusting.
- 2Excessively sentimental.
- 3Unwell or upset; in a bad state of mind or health.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how icky appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I stepped in something icky and it smells terrible.
Crew member Sachin Sharma of India said workers had no problems with being thrust into the icky job of handling the red bags filled with human waste.
Etymology
1935, American English; from icky-boo (circa 1920): sickly, nauseated; baby talk corruption of sick; from a sentimental term for jazz music.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ciky
- iccky
- ickky
- ickyy
- icyk
- ikcy
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of icky - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "icky", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).