Which to use
“sick” is an adjective and “sim” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,561
- “sick” frequency rank
- #147
- “sim” frequency rank
- 31708
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sick | sim |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | doente | exprime afirmação, acordo, aprovação, permissão ou consentimento |
Where the eye mixes sick and sim
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sick with sim
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sick is /sɪk/ while sim is /ˈsĩ/. 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 (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31708, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sick is recorded at frequency rank #31,561, classified as anadj, pronounced /sɪk/. sim is at rank #147, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈsĩ/.
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 31708, this pair ranks #36,291 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sick vs sim
Shared letters: is. Private to "sick": ck. Private to "sim": m.
"sick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sim" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sick ← isck · scik · sicck · sickk · sikc · ssick
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sick" for "sim" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sick" or "sim"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sim" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #36,291 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sick" and "sim" 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 #36,291 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.