English homophones
censor/sensor
"sensor" (#8,089 written frequency) beats "censor" (#18,034) in this 2-word /ˈsɛnsə/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /ˈsɛnsə/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "sensor" leads at #8,089, with "censor" trailing at #18,034.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- No shared spelling stem: "censor" is 6 letters, "sensor" is 6; only the sound ties them.
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across censor, sensor: enors. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
censor
6 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCCVC
Inventory cenors · private c
sensor
6 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCCVC
Inventory enors · no private letters vs siblings
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "censor" when you mean: One of the two magistrates who originally administered the census of citizens, and by Classical times (between the 8th century B.C.E. and…
- Write "sensor" when you mean: A device or organ that detects certain external stimuli and responds in a distinctive manner.
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
Each spelling
noun · /ˈsɛnsə/ · #18,034 frequency
One of the two magistrates who originally administered the census of citizens, and by Classical times (between the 8th century B.C.E. and the 6th century C.E.) was a high judge of public behaviour and morality.
noun · /ˈsɛn.sə/ · #8,089 frequency
A device or organ that detects certain external stimuli and responds in a distinctive manner.
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (censor, sensor). Here's where to go from here.
- "sensor" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #8,089 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: coats · Coates. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "censor, sensor" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.