SensevsSensorWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Sense” and “Sensor” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,129
“Sense” frequency rank
#17,409
“Sensor” frequency rank
34538
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sense Sensor
Definition scharfes Werkzeug mit langem Stiel zum Mähen von Gras, Getreide und Ähnlichem technischer Fühler

Where the eye mixes Sense and Sensor

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Sense
6 ch
Sensor

Look-alike desk: Sense vs Sensor

A purely visual mix-up. Sense ([ˈzɛnzə]) and Sensor ([ˈzɛnzoːɐ̯]) 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 34538, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sense is recorded at frequency rank #17,129, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɛnzə]. Sensor is at rank #17,409, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɛnzoːɐ̯].

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 34538, this pair ranks #1,661,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sense vs Sensor

Shared letters: ens. Private to "Sense": -. Private to "Sensor": or.

"Sense" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Sensor" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Senseesnse · senes · sennse · sensse · sesne · snese · ssense
  • Sensoresnsor · sennsor · senosr · sensorr · sensro · senssor · sesnor · snesor

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Sense" for "Sensor" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɛnzə] versus [ˈzɛnzoːɐ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Sense" or "Sensor" show up more?
"Sense" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,129 in our German list, against #17,409 for "Sensor". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Sense" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sensor" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,661,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sense" and "Sensor" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sense vs Sönke". 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 #1,661,027 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list