common sense
"common-sense" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“common sense” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ordinary sensible understanding; one's basic intelligence which allows for plain understanding and without which good decisions or judgments cannot be made.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | common sense |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “common sense” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
common sense is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
common sense doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Calque of Middle French sens commun and its source, Latin sēnsus commūnis, itself a calque of Ancient Greek κοινὴ αἴσθησις (koinḕ aísthēsis). The correct English form is common sense, spelled C-O-M-M-O-N- -S-E-N-S-E.
Definition
- 1Ordinary sensible understanding; one's basic intelligence which allows for plain understanding and without which good decisions or judgments cannot be made.
- 2One of the four interior senses; the one by which information from the five exterior senses is understood and interpreted.
Etymology
Calque of Middle French sens commun and its source, Latin sēnsus commūnis, itself a calque of Ancient Greek κοινὴ αἴσθησις (koinḕ aísthēsis).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “common sense”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-M-M-O-N- -S-E-N-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.