CSS

/siː ɛs ˈɛs/

//siː ɛs ˈɛs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"css" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“CSS” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #16,676) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#16,676
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Initialism of change segment status, a GDS code used on older types of airline keyboards.

Corpus desk

Index EN-css · CSS · English

CSS · rank #16,676 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,676
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cruises

Nearest frequency peer: cruises (-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 neighbours of confusable “CSS”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “CSS” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

CSS vs CT
33% similar
CSS vs CV
33% similar
CSS vs CU
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for CSS
PropertyValue
HeadwordCSS
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/siː ɛs ˈɛs/
Letters3
Frequency rank#16,676
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “CSS”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).CSSlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “cruises” (#16,675), “cultivate” (#16,677), “CPR” (#16,674). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “CSS” is #16,676. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for CSS is neighbouring look-alikes ("CT", "CV", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /siː ɛs ˈɛs/. Frequency #16,676 among 5,599 “C” headwords. 11 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for CSS, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "CT", "CV", "CU", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is CSS, spelled C-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Initialism of change segment status, a GDS code used on older types of airline keyboards.
  2. 2
    Initialism of Content Scramble System, a DRM and encryption system for DVDs.
  3. 3
    Initialism of Churg-Strauss syndrome.
  4. 4
    Initialism of Coffin-Siris syndrome.
  5. 5
    Initialism of Chinese surface-to-surface (missile), a NATO prefix-code for systems developed by the People's Republic of China.
  6. 6
    Initialism of Confederate States Ship (the designation for a commissioned warship operated by the Confederate States Navy).
  7. 7
    Initialism of Canadian Survey Ship (the designation for a survey ship operated by the Canadian Hydrographic Service).
  8. 8
    Initialism of cascading style sheet.
  9. 9
    Initialism of control stick steering, a method of Space Shuttle flight control.
  10. 10
    Initialism of critical swim speed.
  11. 11
    Initialism of chromosome substitution strain.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how CSS appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The CSS has found its most productive use in DVDs containing motion pictures, and the movie industry invested heavily in the technology employed to produce CSSs in order to avoid the kind of mass copying that became prevalent with regard to music CDs in the late 1990s.
  2. One needs only to decide upon a series of rules to define the functionality of a CSS and then to decide how to implement that sheet, either directly within their HTML document, or by using an externally linked file.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "CSS"?
"CSS" is spelled C-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /siː ɛs ˈɛs/.
What does "CSS" mean?
As a noun, "CSS" means: Initialism of change segment status, a GDS code used on older types of airline keyboards.
What words are commonly confused with "CSS"?
"CSS" is commonly confused with "CT", "CV", "CU". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "CSS"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "CSS" is /siː ɛs ˈɛs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "CSS" come from?
"CSS" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "CSS", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

CPR#16,674DLC#16,695bel#16,644Ike#16,730

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list