sense

/sɛns/

//sɛns// noun

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

"sense" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sense” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #665. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#665
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sense · sense · English

sense · rank #665 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #665
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH rights

Nearest frequency peer: rights (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “sense”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “sense” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

sense vs ses
60% similar
sense vs SSE
0% similar
sense vs SNS
0% similar

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

Key facts for sense
PropertyValue
Headwordsense
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sɛns/
Letters5
Frequency rank#665
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sense”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).senselands 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 “rights” (#664), “star” (#666), “return” (#663). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sense” is #665. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around sense (IPA /sɛns/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #665 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 11 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for sense, with forms such as "esnse", "senes", and "sennse". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ses", "SSE", "SNS", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sense, from Old French sens, sen, san (“sense, perception, direction”); partly from Latin sēnsus (“sensation, feeling, meaning”), from sentiō (“feel, perceive”); partly of Germanic origin (whence also Occitan sen, Italian senno), from Vu… The correct English form is sense, spelled S-E-N-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.
  2. 2
    Perception through the intellect; apprehension; awareness.
  3. 3
    Sound practical or moral judgment.
  4. 4
    The meaning, reason, or value of something.
  5. 5
    The meaning, reason, or value of something.
  6. 6
    The meaning, reason, or value of something.
  7. 7
    A natural appreciation or ability.
  8. 8
    The way that a referent is presented.
  9. 9
    One of two opposite directions in which a vector (especially of motion) may point. See also polarity.
  10. 10
    One of two opposite directions of rotation, clockwise versus anti-clockwise.
  11. 11
    referring to the strand of a nucleic acid that directly specifies the product.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep.
  2. What surmounts the reach / Of human sense I shall delineate.

Etymology

From Middle English sense, from Old French sens, sen, san (“sense, perception, direction”); partly from Latin sēnsus (“sensation, feeling, meaning”), from sentiō (“feel, perceive”); partly of Germanic origin (whence also Occitan sen, Italian senno), from Vulgar Latin *sennus (“sense, reason, way”), from Frankish *sinn ("reason, judgement, mental faculty, way, direction"; whence also Dutch zin, German Sinn, Swedish sinne, Norwegian sinn). Both Latin and Germanic from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”).

Synonyms

non-nonsensesense

This word in other languages

sentido(Español)sens(Français)Sinn(Deutsch)sentido(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • esnse
  • senes
  • sennse
  • sensse
  • sesne
  • snese
  • ssense

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

esnse2senes2sennse1sensse1sesne2snese2ssense1
Edit distance from "sense"

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 "sense"?
"sense" is spelled S-E-N-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /sɛns/.
What does "sense" mean?
As a noun, "sense" means: Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.
What words are commonly confused with "sense"?
"sense" is commonly confused with "ses", "SSE", "SNS". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sense"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sense" is /sɛns/. 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 "sense"?
From Middle English sense, from Old French sens, sen, san (“sense, perception, direction”); partly from Latin sēnsus (“sensation, feeling, meaning”), from sentiō (“feel, perceive”); partly of Germanic origin (whence also Occitan sen, Italian senno... 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 "sense", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

weeks#669break#670event#673April#648

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

happen7 variantsmiddle7 variantstakes7 variantsshare7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list