sinuous
/ˈsɪn.ju.əs/
"sinuous" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sinuous” is uncommon English (frequency #51,994 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #51,994
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Having curves in alternate directions; meandering.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sinuous · sinuous · English
sinuous · rank #51,994 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #51,994
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH Shulman
Nearest frequency peer: Shulman (-2 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.
Long-tail ranks near “sinuous”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- shortbread
shortbread
48,011 corpus weight
- shtick
shtick
48,010 corpus weight
- Shulman
Shulman
48,009 corpus weight
- sinuous
sinuous
48,007 corpus weight
- sirloin
sirloin
48,005 corpus weight
- Sivan
Sivan
48,004 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “sinuous” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sinuous |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈsɪn.ju.əs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #51,994 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “sinuous” in English
Rare enough to double-check
sinuous is uncommon English at frequency #51,994 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈsɪn.ju.əs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
sinuous has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin sinuōsus. The correct English form is sinuous, spelled S-I-N-U-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Having curves in alternate directions; meandering.
- 2Moving gracefully and in a supple manner.
- 3Morally crooked; shifty.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sinuous appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
We followed every bend of the sinuous river.
[W]hen a transverse, or, within certain limits, an oblique impulse, impinges laterally upon a continuous mountain range, two movements of vibration are communicated; the one, a wave transmitted along and in the line of the axis, the other a transverse wave, which causes the axial line to sway laterally, and transmit a quam prox. horizontal transverse wave…
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin sinuōsus.
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 "sinuous", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).