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sensitivity

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

11 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "sensitivity", 11-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "sensitivity" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "sensitivity" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

sensitivity is aEnglishnoun. It means: The quality or state of being sensitive; sensitiveness. Pronounced /ˌsɛn.sɪˈtɪv.ɪ.ti/. It ranks #7,740 in English word frequency. Often confused with sensibility.

Key facts for sensitivity
PropertyValue
Headwordsensitivity
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌsɛn.sɪˈtɪv.ɪ.ti/
Letters11
Frequency rank#7,740
Misspellings tracked17
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of sensitivity in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for sensitivity is 11 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌsɛn.sɪˈtɪv.ɪ.ti/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,740 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 17 documented wrong-spelling variants for sensitivity, with forms such as "esnsitivity", "senistivity", and "sennsitivity". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "sensibility", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From sensitive + -ity. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is sensitivity, spelled S-E-N-S-I-T-I-V-I-T-Y, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The quality or state of being sensitive; sensitiveness.
  2. 2
    The ability of an organism or organ to respond to external stimuli.
  3. 3
    The ability of an organism or organ to respond to external stimuli.
  4. 4
    The probability, in a binary classification test, of a true positive being correctly identified.
  5. 5
    The degree of response of an instrument to a change in an input signal.
  6. 6
    The rate at which the player's facing direction or position changes relative to input device movement.
  7. 7
    The degree of response of a film etc. to light of a specified wavelength.

Etymology

From sensitive + -ity.

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: esnsitivity,senistivity,sennsitivity,sensiitvity,sensitiivty,sensitivitty,sensitivityy,sensitiviyt,sensitivtiy,sensitivvity,sensittivity,sensitviity,senssitivity,senstiivity,sesnitivity,snesitivity,ssensitivity

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for sensitivity

Misspelling Variants of "sensitivity"

esnsitivity11senistivity11sennsitivity12sensiitvity11sensitiivty11sensitivitty12sensitivityy12sensitiviyt11
Misspelling Variants of "sensitivity"

Frequency rank: #7,740 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sensitivity"?
"sensitivity" is spelled S-E-N-S-I-T-I-V-I-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌsɛn.sɪˈtɪv.ɪ.ti/.
What does "sensitivity" mean?
As a noun, "sensitivity" means: The quality or state of being sensitive; sensitiveness.
What words are commonly confused with "sensitivity"?
"sensitivity" is commonly confused with "sensibility". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sensitivity"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sensitivity" is /ˌsɛn.sɪˈtɪv.ɪ.ti/. 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 "sensitivity"?
From sensitive + -ity. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.