sincere
/sɪnˈsɪə(ɹ)/
"sincere" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sincere” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,096 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #9,096
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Genuine; meaning what one says or does; heartfelt.
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 | sincere |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /sɪnˈsɪə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #9,096 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sincere” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for sincere is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sɪnˈsɪə(ɹ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,096 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for sincere, with forms such as "isncere", "sicnere", and "sinccere". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "singer", "sinner", "sinker", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French sincere, from Latin sincerus (“genuine”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“together”) (whence English sam) + *ḱer- (“grow”) (whence Latin Ceres, the goddess of harvest, etymon of cereal). Not from sine (“without”) + cera (“wax”), a folk e… The correct English form is sincere, spelled S-I-N-C-E-R-E.
Definition
- 1Genuine; meaning what one says or does; heartfelt.
- 2Meant truly or earnestly.
- 3clean; pure
Etymology
From Middle French sincere, from Latin sincerus (“genuine”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“together”) (whence English sam) + *ḱer- (“grow”) (whence Latin Ceres, the goddess of harvest, etymon of cereal). Not from sine (“without”) + cera (“wax”), a folk etymology; see Wikipedia page.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: isncere,sicnere,sinccere,sinceer,sincerre,sincree,sinecre,sinncere,snicere,ssincere
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sincere - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "sincere"?
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Using “sincere”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-I-N-C-E-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /sɪnˈsɪə(ɹ)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “singer” - see the side-by-side comparison. sincere vs singer
- 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.