sensei
/ˈsɛnseɪ/
"sensei" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sensei” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,570 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #25,570
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A martial arts instructor; especially one for a Japanese martial art.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sensei |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɛnseɪ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #25,570 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sensei” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for sensei is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɛnseɪ/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,570 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for sensei, with forms such as "esnsei", "senesi", and "sennsei". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "sunset", "senses", "sensor", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese 先生(せんせい) (sensei, “teacher; elder”), from Middle Chinese 先生 (MC sen sraeng, “master, elder”), from 先 (MC sen, “earlier, first”) + 生 (MC sraeng, “born”). Compare modern Mandarin 先生 (xiānshēng, “Mr.”). Doublet of sinseh, from Hokkien 先生… The correct English form is sensei, spelled S-E-N-S-E-I.
Definition
- 1A martial arts instructor; especially one for a Japanese martial art.
- 2A Japanese (language) teacher (sometimes used as a suffix attached to the name of a teacher, principally in translations from Japanese).
- 3A teacher, guide or mentor, in the context of Japan.
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 先生(せんせい) (sensei, “teacher; elder”), from Middle Chinese 先生 (MC sen sraeng, “master, elder”), from 先 (MC sen, “earlier, first”) + 生 (MC sraeng, “born”). Compare modern Mandarin 先生 (xiānshēng, “Mr.”). Doublet of sinseh, from Hokkien 先生 (sin-seⁿ).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: esnsei,senesi,sennsei,sensie,senssei,sesnei,snesei,ssensei
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sensei - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “sensei”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-E-N-S-E-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɛnseɪ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “sunset” - see the side-by-side comparison. sensei vs sunset
- 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.