picky
/ˈpɪki/
"picky" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“picky” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #18,654. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #18,654
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Fussy; particular; demanding to have things just right.
Corpus desk
Index EN-picky · picky · English
picky · rank #18,654 · 8 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #18,654
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH pharmacist
Nearest frequency peer: pharmacist (-2 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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “picky”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- perseverance
perseverance
81,351 corpus weight
- persisted
persisted
81,350 corpus weight
- pharmacist
pharmacist
81,349 corpus weight
- picky
picky
81,347 corpus weight
- Poole
Poole
81,344 corpus weight
- populace
populace
81,343 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “picky” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | picky |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈpɪki/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #18,654 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “picky” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around picky (IPA /ˈpɪki/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #18,654 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for picky, with forms such as "ipcky", "pciky", and "piccky". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pink", "pics", "pity", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From pick + -y. The correct English form is picky, spelled P-I-C-K-Y.
Definition
- 1Fussy; particular; demanding to have things just right.
- 2Of food or a meal: consisting of various small items from which the diner can pick and choose.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how picky appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I am very picky about the way my kitchen is laid out.
Most of the pickiest children were actually in the middle weight group, though a few were underweight and a few were overweight.
Etymology
From pick + -y.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ipcky
- pciky
- piccky
- pickky
- pickyy
- picyk
- pikcy
- ppicky
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of picky - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "picky"?
What does "picky" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "picky"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "picky", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).
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.