sick

/ˈsɪk/

//ˈsɪk// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"sick" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sick” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,410. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,410
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In poor health; ill.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sick · sick · English

sick · rank #1,410 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,410
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH showing

Nearest frequency peer: showing (-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 “sick”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “sick” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sick vs SK
0% similar
sick vs six
50% similar
sick vs sir
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for sick
PropertyValue
Headwordsick
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈsɪk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,410
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sick”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).sicklands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “showing” (#1,409), “teacher” (#1,411), “shop” (#1,408). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sick” is #1,410. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around sick (IPA /ˈsɪk/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #1,410 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for sick, with forms such as "isck", "scik", and "sicck". 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, "SK", "six", "sir", 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 sik, sike, seek, seke, seok, from Old English sēoc (“sick, ill”), from Proto-West Germanic *seuk, from Proto-Germanic *seukaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sewg- (“to be troubled or grieved”). See also West Frisian siik, Dutch ziek, German … The correct English form is sick, spelled S-I-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    In poor health; ill.
  2. 2
    In poor health; ill.
  3. 3
    Having an urge to vomit.
  4. 4
    Mentally unstable, disturbed.
  5. 5
    In bad taste.
  6. 6
    [with of] Tired of or annoyed by (something that has lasted a long time or often recurs).
  7. 7
    Very good, excellent, awesome, badass.
  8. 8
    In poor condition.
  9. 9
    Failing to sustain adequate harvests of crop, usually specified.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how sick appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. We have to care for the sick.
  2. Ne take noon hede to brynge togidere þe parties of þe boon þat is to-broken or dislocate, til viij. daies ben goon in þe wyntir, & v. in þe somer; for þanne it schal make quytture, and be sikir from swellynge; & þanne brynge togidere þe brynkis eiþer þe disiuncture after þe techynge þat schal be seid in þe chapitle of algebra.

Etymology

From Middle English sik, sike, seek, seke, seok, from Old English sēoc (“sick, ill”), from Proto-West Germanic *seuk, from Proto-Germanic *seukaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sewg- (“to be troubled or grieved”). See also West Frisian siik, Dutch ziek, German siech, Norwegian Bokmål syk, Norwegian Nynorsk sjuk, Danish syg; also Middle Irish socht (“silence, depression”), Old Armenian հիւծանիմ (hiwcanim, “I am weakening”). The "very good, excellent" sense is an ameliorative semantic shift from the original sense of "in poor health". Compare similar semantic development in terrific and wicked.

This word in other languages

mareado(Español)nauséeux(Français)leid(Deutsch)animal(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • isck
  • scik
  • sicck
  • sickk
  • sikc
  • ssick

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sick - 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.

isck2scik2sicck1sickk1sikc2ssick1
Edit distance from "sick"

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

How do you spell "sick"?
"sick" is spelled S-I-C-K. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsɪk/.
What does "sick" mean?
As an adjective, "sick" means: In poor health; ill.
What words are commonly confused with "sick"?
"sick" is commonly confused with "SK", "six", "sir". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sick"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sick" is /ˈsɪk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "sick"?
From Middle English sik, sike, seek, seke, seok, from Old English sēoc (“sick, ill”), from Proto-West Germanic *seuk, from Proto-Germanic *seukaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sewg- (“to be troubled or grieved”). See also West Frisian siik, Dutch zie... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sick", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

shop#1,408uses#1,413cell#1,419lots#1,399

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

avoid6 variantscoast6 variantsdrug6 variantsain't6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list