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” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #665 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#665
frequency rank, English
5
letters
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.

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)

Where “sense” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). sense lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for sense is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sɛns/. Corpus data places it at rank #665 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

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.

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.

Using “sense”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-E-N-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /sɛns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “ses” - see the side-by-side comparison. sense vs ses
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list