Which to use
“sister” and “spinster” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,207
- “sister” frequency rank
- #42,416
- “spinster” frequency rank
- 43623
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sister | spinster |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A daughter of the same parents as another person; a female sibling. | A woman who has never been married, especially one past the typical marrying age according to social traditions. |
Where the eye mixes sister and spinster
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. sister runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against spinster's 8 (CCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between sister and spinster
A purely visual mix-up. sister (/ˈsɪs.tə(ɹ)/) and spinster (/ˈspɪnstə/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43623, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sister is recorded at frequency rank #1,207, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɪs.tə(ɹ)/. spinster is at rank #42,416, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈspɪnstə/.
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 43623, this pair ranks #238,211 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sister vs spinster
Shared letters: eirst. Private to "sister": -. Private to "spinster": np.
"sister" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "spinster" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sister" and "spinster" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sister" or "spinster"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sister" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spinster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #238,211 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sister" and "spinster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spenser vs spinster". 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 #238,211 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.