censure
/ˈsɛn.ʃə/
"censure" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“censure” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #31,101. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #31,101
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 9
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - The act of blaming, criticizing, or condemning as wrong; reprehension.
Corpus desk
Index EN-censure · censure · English
censure · rank #31,101 · 10 variants · 9 confusables
- FREQ-MID #31,101
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
- VAR-MID 10 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH catchphrase
Nearest frequency peer: catchphrase (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “censure”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- caress
caress
68,903 corpus weight
- catchphrase
catchphrase
68,901 corpus weight
- censure
censure
68,900 corpus weight
- channeled
channeled
68,899 corpus weight
- Charlene
Charlene
68,898 corpus weight
- chewy
chewy
68,896 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “censure” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | censure |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɛn.ʃə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #31,101 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “censure” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around censure (IPA /ˈsɛn.ʃə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #31,101 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for censure, with forms such as "ccensure", "cennsure", and "censrue". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "centre", "census", "century", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From 1350–1400 Middle English censure, from Old French, from Latin censūra (“censor's office or assessment”), from censēre (“to consider, to assess, to value, to judge, to tax, etc.”). The correct English form is censure, spelled C-E-N-S-U-R-E.
Definition
- 1The act of blaming, criticizing, or condemning as wrong; reprehension.
- 2Official reprimand.
- 3A judicial or ecclesiastical sentence or reprimand; condemnatory judgment.
- 4A judgment (either favorable or unfavorable); an opinion.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how censure appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Censure, which arraigns the public actions and the private motives of princes, has ascribed to envy, a conduct which might be attributed to the prudence and moderation of Hadrian.
Both the censure and the praise were merited.
Etymology
From 1350–1400 Middle English censure, from Old French, from Latin censūra (“censor's office or assessment”), from censēre (“to consider, to assess, to value, to judge, to tax, etc.”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ccensure
- cennsure
- censrue
- censsure
- censuer
- censurre
- cenusre
- cesnure
- cnesure
- ecnsure
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of censure - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "censure", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.