trick

/tɹɪk/

//tɹɪk// noun

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

"trick" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“trick” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,145. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,145
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle.

Corpus desk

Index EN-trick · trick · English

trick · rank #3,145 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,145
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH tested

Nearest frequency peer: tested (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “trick”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “trick” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

trick vs trip
60% similar
trick vs trio
60% similar
trick vs trim
60% similar

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

Key facts for trick
PropertyValue
Headwordtrick
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tɹɪk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#3,145
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “trick” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).tricklands 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 “tested” (#3,144), “attended” (#3,146), “temporary” (#3,143). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around trick (IPA /tɹɪk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,145 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 15 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for trick, with forms such as "rtick", "tirck", and "trcik". 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, "trip", "trio", "trim", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English trikke, from Old Northern French trique (related to Old French trichier (“to defraud, act dishonestly, conceal, deceive, cheat”); > modern French tricher), itself possibly from Middle High German trechen (“to launch a shot at, play a tri… The correct English form is trick, spelled T-R-I-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle.
  2. 2
    A single element of a magician's (or any variety entertainer's) act; a magic trick.
  3. 3
    An entertaining difficult physical action.
  4. 4
    An effective, clever or quick way of doing something.
  5. 5
    Mischievous or annoying behavior; a prank.
  6. 6
    A particular habit or manner; a peculiarity; a trait.
  7. 7
    A knot, braid, or plait of hair.
  8. 8
    A sequence in which each player plays a card and a winning play is determined.
  9. 9
    A sex act, chiefly one performed for payment; an act of prostitution.
  10. 10
    A customer or client of a prostitute.
  11. 11
    A term of abuse.
  12. 12
    A daily period of work, especially in shift-based jobs.
  13. 13
    A sailor's spell of work at the helm, usually two hours long.
  14. 14
    A toy; a trifle; a plaything.
  15. 15
    A representation of arms that is drawn as an outline with labels to indicate colors.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. It was just a trick to say that the house was underpriced.
  2. He played a trick on his sister as April Fool's Day.

Etymology

From Middle English trikke, from Old Northern French trique (related to Old French trichier (“to defraud, act dishonestly, conceal, deceive, cheat”); > modern French tricher), itself possibly from Middle High German trechen (“to launch a shot at, play a trick on”), or one of its derivatives (e.g. Middle High German ūftrechen (“to do something to someone, hurt someone”), vertrechen (“to conceal, get over on someone”), zuotrechen (“to obtain falsely or deceitfully, wangle, finagle”), etc.); yet the Old French verb is equally likely to be derived from Vulgar Latin *triccāre, from Late Latin tricāre, from Latin trīcor, trīcārī (“dodge, search for detours; haggle, quibble”). The term has been connected to Middle Dutch treck, trec (“draw, line, desire, game move, cord, stratagem, ruse, trick”), from Middle Dutch trekken, trēken (“to pull, place, put, move”), from Old Dutch *trekken, *trekan (“to move, drag”), from Proto-Germanic *trakjaną, *trekaną (“to drag, scrape, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dreg- (“to drag, scrape”). If they are related, trick would be cognate with Low German trekken, Middle High German trecken, trechen, Danish trække, and Old Frisian trekka, Romanian truc and other Romance languages. Compare track, treachery, trig, and trigger.

Synonyms

artificecongambitployrip-offillusionmagic tricksleight of handshift

This word in other languages

truco(Español)tour(Français)List(Deutsch)artimanha(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • rtick
  • tirck
  • trcik
  • tricck
  • trickk
  • trikc
  • trrick
  • ttrick

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of trick - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

rtick2tirck2trcik2tricck1trickk1trikc2trrick1ttrick1
Edit distance from "trick"

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 "trick"?
"trick" is spelled T-R-I-C-K. The IPA pronunciation is /tɹɪk/.
What does "trick" mean?
As a noun, "trick" means: Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle.
What words are commonly confused with "trick"?
"trick" is commonly confused with "trip", "trio", "trim". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "trick"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "trick" is /tɹɪk/. 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 "trick"?
From Middle English trikke, from Old Northern French trique (related to Old French trichier (“to defraud, act dishonestly, conceal, deceive, cheat”); > modern French tricher), itself possibly from Middle High German trechen (“to launch a shot at, ... 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 "trick", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

audio#3,147Brian#3,149chart#3,152Simon#3,137

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

sharp8 variantsrescue8 variantspants8 variantsoffices8 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "trick". Here's where to go from here.

  • "trick" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "trip". View pair
  • 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #3,145 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "T" letter cohort. T–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list