satori
/səˈtɔːɹi/
"satori" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“satori” is uncommon English (frequency #83,714 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #83,714
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A sudden inexpressible feeling of spiritual awakening or enlightenment, the result of meditation and study.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | satori |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /səˈtɔːɹi/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #83,714 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “satori” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
satori is uncommon English at frequency #83,714 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /səˈtɔːɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
satori doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese 悟り (satori, “understanding; (Buddhism) enlightenment, satori”), from 悟る (satoru, “to perceive; to comprehend, understand; to come to enlightenment”), from Middle Chinese 悟 (nguH, “to become aware, apprehend, realize; to awaken”) (mode… The correct English form is satori, spelled S-A-T-O-R-I.
Definition
- 1A sudden inexpressible feeling of spiritual awakening or enlightenment, the result of meditation and study.
- 2Enlightenment, epiphany.
- 3A mutant gene of Drosophila, a genus of fruit flies, that causes homosexual behaviour in males (specifically, courtship directed to other males).
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 悟り (satori, “understanding; (Buddhism) enlightenment, satori”), from 悟る (satoru, “to perceive; to comprehend, understand; to come to enlightenment”), from Middle Chinese 悟 (nguH, “to become aware, apprehend, realize; to awaken”) (modern Mandarin 悟 (wù)), used to translate Pali bodhi (“supreme knowledge”) or its etymon Sanskrit बोधि (bodhi, “perfect knowledge or wisdom by which a person becomes a buddha or jina; enlightened or illuminated intellect of a Buddha or jina”). Etymology 1 sense 3 (“mutant gene of Drosophila that causes homosexual behaviour in males”) was coined by the Japanese scientist Daisuke Yamamoto in a 1991 paper, based on the Japanese term.
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); 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
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Using “satori”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-A-T-O-R-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /səˈtɔːɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.