sistersvssitterWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“sisters” and “sitter” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,453
“sisters” frequency rank
#23,100
“sitter” frequency rank
26553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sisters sitter
Definition plural of sister Someone who sits, e.g. for a portrait.

Where the eye mixes sisters and sitter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. sisters runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against sitter's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
sisters
6 ch
sitter

Visual trap between sisters and sitter

A purely visual mix-up. sisters (/ˈsɪstəz/) and sitter (/ˈsɪtə/) 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 26553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sisters is recorded at frequency rank #3,453, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɪstəz/. sitter is at rank #23,100, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɪtə/.

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 26553, this pair ranks #385,839 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sisters vs sitter

Shared letters: eirst. Private to "sisters": -. Private to "sitter": -.

"sisters" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "sitter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sisters ← issters · sisetrs · sissters · sisterrs · sisterss · sistesr · sistres · sistters
  • sitter ← istter · siter · sitetr · sitterr · sittre · ssitter · stiter

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sisters" and "sitter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈsɪstəz/ versus /ˈsɪtə/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sisters" or "sitter"?
"sisters" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,453 in our English list, against #23,100 for "sitter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "sisters" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sitter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #385,839 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sisters" and "sitter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sifted vs sitter". 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 #385,839 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list