sentence

/ˈsɛn.təns/

//ˈsɛn.təns// noun

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

"sentence" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sentence” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,599 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#2,599
frequency rank, English
8
letters
13
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The decision or judgement of a jury or court; a verdict.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sentence vs sequence
75% similar
sentence vs sentences
89% similar
sentence vs sentenced
89% similar

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

Key facts for sentence
PropertyValue
Headwordsentence
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsɛn.təns/
Letters8
Frequency rank#2,599
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sentence” 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). sentence 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 sentence is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɛn.təns/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,599 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for sentence, with forms such as "esntence", "senetnce", and "senntence". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "sequence", "sentences", "sentenced", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French sentence, from Latin sententia (“way of thinking, opinion, sentiment”), from sentiēns, present participle of sentiō (“to feel, think”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”). The correct English form is sentence, spelled S-E-N-T-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The decision or judgement of a jury or court; a verdict.
  2. 2
    The judicial order for a punishment to be imposed on a person convicted of a crime.
  3. 3
    A punishment imposed on a person convicted of a crime.
  4. 4
    A saying, especially from a great person; a maxim, an apophthegm.
  5. 5
    A grammatically complete series of words consisting of a subject and predicate, even if one or the other is implied. In modern writing, when using e.g. the Latin, Greek or Cyrillic alphabets, typically beginning with a capital letter and ending with a full stop or other punctuation.
  6. 6
    A formula with no free variables.
  7. 7
    Any of the set of strings that can be generated by a given formal grammar.
  8. 8
    Sense; meaning; significance.
  9. 9
    One's opinion; manner of thinking.
  10. 10
    A pronounced opinion or judgment on a given question.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French sentence, from Latin sententia (“way of thinking, opinion, sentiment”), from sentiēns, present participle of sentiō (“to feel, think”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”).

Synonyms

verdictconviction

This word in other languages

sentencia(Español)jugement(Français)Urteil(Deutsch)sentença(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: esntence,senetnce,senntence,sentance,sentecne,sentencce,sentenec,sentennce,sentnece,senttence,setnence,snetence,ssentence

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sentence - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

esntence2senetnce2senntence1sentance1sentecne2sentencce1sentenec2sentennce1
Edit distance from "sentence"

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 "sentence"?
"sentence" is spelled S-E-N-T-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsɛn.təns/.
What does "sentence" mean?
As a noun, "sentence" means: The decision or judgement of a jury or court; a verdict.
What words are commonly confused with "sentence"?
"sentence" is commonly confused with "sequence", "sentences", "sentenced". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sentence"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sentence" is /ˈsɛn.təns/. 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 "sentence"?
Borrowed from Middle French sentence, from Latin sententia (“way of thinking, opinion, sentiment”), from sentiēns, present participle of sentiō (“to feel, think”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”). 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 “sentence”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is S-E-N-T-E-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈsɛn.təns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “sequence” - see the side-by-side comparison. sentence vs sequence
  • 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