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sinister

si·ni·ster/ˈsɪ.nɪ.stəɹ/adjective

sinister is spelled S-I-N-I-S-T-E-R: 8 letters and 3 syllables (si·ni·ster). It appears 4.0 times per million words in written English, the 12,940th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, sinister means “Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in sinister?

Letters8: S-I-N-I-S-T-E-R
Syllables3: si·ni·ster
In writing4.0 times per million words; the 12,940th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is sinister?

Sinister appears 4.0 times per million words in written English, the 12,940th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce sinister?

  • UK /ˈsɪ.nɪ.stə/
  • US /ˈsɪ.nɪ.stəɹ/
  • /ˈsə.nə.stə/

Sinister has 3 syllables, split si·ni·ster in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sinister.ogg, En-au-sinister.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with sinister?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as sinister from its last stressed vowel (/ɪnɪstəɹ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: resistin.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of sinister

  • more sinister comparative
  • most sinister superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does sinister mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.

    bar sinister

  2. 2

    Evil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm.

    sinister influences

  3. 3

    archaicOf the left side.

  4. 4

    archaicOn the left side of a shield from the wearer's standpoint, and the right side to the viewer.

  5. 5

    obsoleteWrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Sinister in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsinistre (ominous), sénestre (heraldry: on the left)
Germansinister (ominous), böse (evil), links, linksseitig (on the left)
Portuguesesinistro (ominous), sestro, esquerdo (on the left)
Spanishizquierdo (heraldry: on the left), siniestro (evil)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does sinister come from?

From Middle English sinistre (“unlucky”), from Old French senestre, sinistre (“left”), from Latin sinister (“left hand”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after sinister