Which to use
“hic” is a noun and “hicks” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,382
- “hic” frequency rank
- #37,362
- “hicks” frequency rank
- 53744
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hic | hicks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nœud ou principale difficulté d’une affaire, problème. | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de hicksen. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hic and hicks apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
hic and hicks form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “hic” sits inside “hicks” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53744, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hic is recorded at frequency rank #16,382, classified as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ik\. hicks is at rank #37,362, tagged as averb, pronounced \hɪks\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 53744, this pair ranks #138,676 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hic" and "hicks" be used interchangeably?
Remembering hic vs hicks
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “hic”; for a verb, it's “hicks”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hic” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable