prick
/pɹɪk/
"prick" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“prick” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,043 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #13,043
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A small hole or perforation, caused by piercing.
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 | prick |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pɹɪk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #13,043 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “prick” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for prick is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɹɪk/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,043 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 13 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 prick, with forms such as "pirck", "pprick", and "prcik". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "puck", "proc", "prim", 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 Middle English prik, prikke, from Old English prica, pricu (“a sharp point, minute mark, spot, dot, small portion, prick”), from Proto-West Germanic *prikō, *priku, from Proto-Germanic *prikô, *prikō (“a prick, point”), of uncertain origin, perhaps fro… The correct English form is prick, spelled P-R-I-C-K.
Definition
- 1A small hole or perforation, caused by piercing.
- 2An indentation or small mark made with a pointed object.
- 3A dot or other diacritical mark used in writing; a point.
- 4A tiny particle; a small amount of something; a jot.
- 5A small pointed object.
- 6The experience or feeling of being pierced or punctured by a small, sharp object.
- 7A feeling of remorse.
- 8The penis.
- 9Someone (especially a male) who is unpleasant, rude or annoying.
- 10A small roll of yarn or tobacco.
- 11The footprint of a hare.
- 12A point or mark on the dial, noting the hour.
- 13The point on a target at which an archer aims; the mark; the pin.
Etymology
From Middle English prik, prikke, from Old English prica, pricu (“a sharp point, minute mark, spot, dot, small portion, prick”), from Proto-West Germanic *prikō, *priku, from Proto-Germanic *prikô, *prikō (“a prick, point”), of uncertain origin, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *breyǵ- (“to scrape, scratch, rub, prickle, chap”). Cognate with West Frisian prik (“small hole”), West Frisian prikke (“penis”), Dutch prik (“point, small stick", also "penis”), Danish prik (“dot”), Icelandic prik (“dot, small stick”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: pirck,pprick,prcik,pricck,prickk,prikc,prrick,rpick
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of prick - 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “prick”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-R-I-C-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pɹɪk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “puck” - see the side-by-side comparison. prick vs puck
- 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.