Which to use
“sic” is an adverb and “sync” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,132
- “sic” frequency rank
- #38,061
- “sync” frequency rank
- 49193
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sic | sync |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Synchronisation. |
Where the eye mixes sic and sync
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sic and sync
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sic is \sik\ while sync is \ˈsɪŋk\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 49193, 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\. sync is at rank #38,061, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈsɪŋk\.
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 49193, this pair ranks #172,677 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sic vs sync
Shared letters: cs. Private to "sic": i. Private to "sync": ny.
"sic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "sync" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sync ← snyc · ssync · sycn · syncc · synnc · syync · ysnc
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sic" for "sync" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sic" vs "sync" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sync" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #172,677 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sic" and "sync" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sind vs sync". 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 #172,677 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.