sinecure
/ˈsaɪ.nɪˌkjʊə/
"sinecure" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sinecure” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A position that requires little to no work, or easy work, but still gives an ample payment; a cushy job.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sinecure · sinecure · English
sinecure · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sinecure |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsaɪ.nɪˌkjʊə/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “sinecure” in English
Rare enough to double-check
sinecure is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈsaɪ.nɪˌkjʊə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
sinecure doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Ecclesiastical Latin sine cūrā (literally “without care”), ellipsis of beneficium sine cūrā (“benefice without cure [of souls, i.e. the office of a curate]”), formed from Medieval Latin sine (“without”) + cūrā (“care, charge, cure”). The correct English form is sinecure, spelled S-I-N-E-C-U-R-E.
Definition
- 1A position that requires little to no work, or easy work, but still gives an ample payment; a cushy job.
- 2An ecclesiastical benefice without the care of souls.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sinecure appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Miss Briggs was not formally dismissed, but her place as companion was a sinecure and a derision […]
A lucrative sinecure in the Excise was bestowed on Ferguson.
Etymology
From Ecclesiastical Latin sine cūrā (literally “without care”), ellipsis of beneficium sine cūrā (“benefice without cure [of souls, i.e. the office of a curate]”), formed from Medieval Latin sine (“without”) + cūrā (“care, charge, cure”).
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.