Which to use
“setter” and “sister” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,455
- “setter” frequency rank
- #1,207
- “sister” frequency rank
- 30662
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | setter | sister |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A typesetter. | A daughter of the same parents as another person; a female sibling. |
Where the eye mixes setter and sister
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. setter and sister follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: setter vs sister
A purely visual mix-up. setter (/ˈsɛt.ə/) and sister (/ˈsɪs.tə(ɹ)/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30662, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
setter is recorded at frequency rank #29,455, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛt.ə/. sister is at rank #1,207, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɪs.tə(ɹ)/.
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 30662, this pair ranks #352,693 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of setter vs sister
Shared letters: erst. Private to "setter": -. Private to "sister": i.
"setter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "sister" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "setter" for "sister" ever safe?
Which is more common, "setter" or "sister"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "setter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sister" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #352,693 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "setter" and "sister" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Seager vs setter". 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 #352,693 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.