sans
/sænz/preposition, adjective, noun
sans is spelled S-A-N-S: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a preposition, sans means “Without; lacking; especially with regard to something expected or with precedent” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in sans?
| Letters | 4: S-A-N-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.8 times per million words; the 13,321st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is sans?
Sans appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sans?
- US /sænz/
- US /sɑ̃/
Sans has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sans.ogg, En-uk-sans.ogg, En-au-sans.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with sans?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as sans from its last stressed vowel (/ænz/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: assn.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
What does sans mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
preposition
- 1
Without; lacking; especially with regard to something expected or with precedent.
noun
- 1
plural of san
noun
- 1
plural of SAn
noun
- 1
plural of SAN
adjective
- 1
Ellipsis of sans serif.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does sans come from?
From Middle English saunz, sans, borrowed from Old French sans, senz, sens, from Latin sine (“without”) conflated with absēns (“absent, remote”). Compare French sans, Italian senza, Portuguese sem, and Spanish sin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).