sane

/seɪn/

//seɪn// adj

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

"sane" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sane” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #11,791) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#11,791
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Being in a healthy condition; not deranged; thinking rationally.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sane · sane · English

sane · rank #11,791 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,791
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sacrificed

Nearest frequency peer: sacrificed (-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 “sane”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “sane” 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).

sane vs se
50% similar
sane vs she
50% similar
sane vs see
50% similar

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

Key facts for sane
PropertyValue
Headwordsane
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/seɪn/
Letters4
Frequency rank#11,791
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “sane”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).sanelands 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 “sacrificed” (#11,790), “savior” (#11,792), “sac” (#11,789). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sane” is #11,791. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for sane is neighbouring look-alikes ("se", "she", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced /seɪn/. Frequency #11,791 among 6,566 “S” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for sane, with forms such as "asne", "sanne", and "snae". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "se", "she", "see", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin sānus (“healthy; sane”). Doublet of sound. The correct English form is sane, spelled S-A-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Being in a healthy condition; not deranged; thinking rationally.
  2. 2
    Mentally sound; possessing a rational mind; having the mental faculties in such condition as to be able to anticipate and judge the effect of one's actions in an ordinary manner.
  3. 3
    Rational; reasonable; sensible.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. a sane person
  2. Shepard: What's wrong with your assistant? Dr. Warren: Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit... unstable. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin. Dr. Manuel: Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left! Dr. W…

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin sānus (“healthy; sane”). Doublet of sound.

Synonyms

in one's right mindplay with a full decksanebalancedcompos mentisin possession of one's facultieslucidrationalreasonablesound-minded

Antonyms

insanecrazyunbalancednonsaneunsane

This word in other languages

cuerdo(Español)sain(Français)vernünftig(Deutsch)são(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • asne
  • sanne
  • snae
  • ssane

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sane - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

asne2sanne1snae2ssane1
Edit distance from "sane"

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 "sane"?
"sane" is spelled S-A-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /seɪn/.
What does "sane" mean?
As an adjective, "sane" means: Being in a healthy condition; not deranged; thinking rationally.
What words are commonly confused with "sane"?
"sane" is commonly confused with "se", "she", "see". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sane"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sane" is /seɪn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "sane"?
Learned borrowing from Latin sānus (“healthy; sane”). Doublet of sound. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 "sane", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ripe#11,783spun#11,799toby#11,808rash#11,772

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list