sex
/sɛks/
"sex" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sex” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #611) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #611
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A category into which sexually-reproducing organisms are divided on the basis of their reproductive roles in their species; the system of such categories, which can differ by organism or by taxonom...
Corpus desk
Index EN-sex · sex · English
sex · rank #611 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #611
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH project
Nearest frequency peer: project (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “sex”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- land
land
99,393 corpus weight
- miss
miss
99,392 corpus weight
- project
project
99,391 corpus weight
- sex
sex
99,390 corpus weight
- shot
shot
99,389 corpus weight
- site
site
99,388 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “sex” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | sex |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /sɛks/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #611 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sex” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for sex is neighbouring look-alikes ("so", "SI", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /sɛks/. Frequency #611 among 6,566 “S” headwords. 7 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for sex, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "so", "SI", "SS", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sek-der. Proto-Indo-European *séksusder. Proto-Italic *seksus Latin sexusder. Old French sexeder. Middle English sexe English sex From Middle English sexe (“sex [distinction between male and female] and gender”), from Old… The correct English form is sex, spelled S-E-X.
Definition
- 1A category into which sexually-reproducing organisms are divided on the basis of their reproductive roles in their species; the system of such categories, which can differ by organism or by taxonomic branch.
- 2Another category, especially of humans and especially based on sexuality or gender roles.
- 3The members of such a category, taken collectively.
- 4The distinction and relation between these categories, especially in humans; gender.
- 5Women; the human female gender and those who belong to it.
- 6Sexual activity, usually sexual intercourse unless preceded by a modifier.
- 7Genitalia: a penis or vagina/vulva.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sex appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The effect of the medication is dependent upon age, sex, and other factors.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sek-der. Proto-Indo-European *séksusder. Proto-Italic *seksus Latin sexusder. Old French sexeder. Middle English sexe English sex From Middle English sexe (“sex [distinction between male and female] and gender”), from Old French sexe (“genitals; gender”), from Latin sexus (“gender; gender traits; males or females; genitals”), from Proto-Italic *seksus, from Proto-Indo-European *séksus, from *sek- (“to cut, cut off, sever”), thus meaning "section, division" (into male and female). Usage for women influenced by Middle French le sexe (“women”) (attested in 1580). Usage for third and additional sexes calqued from French troisième sexe, referring to masculine women in 1817 and homosexuals in 1847. First used by Lord Byron and others in English in reference to Catholic clergy. Usage for sexual intercourse first attested in 1899 (in the writings of H. G. Wells).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sex", not the corpus desk frequency band.
What to do next
You've looked up "sex". Here's where to go from here.
- "sex" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "so". View pair
- Usage frequency rank #611 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.