Which to use
“sec” and “sick” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,268
- “sec” frequency rank
- #31,561
- “sick” frequency rank
- 50829
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sec | sick |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | seco | doente |
Where the eye mixes sec and sick
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sec and sick
A purely visual mix-up. sec (\sɛk\) and sick (/sɪk/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50829, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sec is recorded at frequency rank #19,268, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɛk\. sick is at rank #31,561, tagged as anadj, pronounced /sɪk/.
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 50829, this pair ranks #14,131 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sec vs sick
Shared letters: cs. Private to "sec": e. Private to "sick": ik.
"sec" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "sick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sick ← isck · scik · sicck · sickk · sikc · ssick
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sec" and "sick" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "sec" or "sick"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "sec" and "sick" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sec" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sick" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,131 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sec" and "sick" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sick vs sire". 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 #14,131 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.