Which to use
“sic” is an adverb and “stick” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,132
- “sic” frequency rank
- #25,820
- “stick” frequency rank
- 36952
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sic | stick |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tel que cela a été dit ou écrit, sans modification, aussi étrange ou incorrect que cela paraisse. Il s’utilise le plus souvent en italique et entre crochets pour confirmer l’exactitude de la citation d’un texte, même dans le cas d’une erreur manifeste, d’une faute de langue ou de propos choquants. | Baguette d’officier. |
Where the eye mixes sic and stick
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sic with stick
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sic is \sik\ while stick is \stik\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36952, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sic is recorded at frequency rank #11,132, classified as anadv, pronounced \sik\. stick is at rank #25,820, tagged as anoun, pronounced \stik\.
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 36952, this pair ranks #265,948 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sic vs stick
Shared letters: cis. Private to "sic": -. Private to "stick": kt.
"sic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "stick" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- stick ← sitck · sstick · stcik · sticck · stickk · stikc · sttick · tsick
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sic" and "stick" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sic" or "stick"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stick" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #265,948 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sic" and "stick" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "STIB vs stick". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #265,948 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.