Sirius

/ˈsɪɹi.əs/

//ˈsɪɹi.əs// name

"sirius" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Sirius” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,774. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,774
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A telescopic binary star, visually the brightest star in the night sky, a part of the northern constellation of Canis Major (the Greater Dog), one of three stars in the Winter Triangle asterism. Lo...

Corpus desk

Index EN-sirius · Sirius · English

Sirius · rank #20,774 · 8 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,774
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Sinatra

Nearest frequency peer: Sinatra (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “Sirius”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “Sirius” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Sirius vs strips
50% similar
Sirius vs Straus
67% similar
Sirius vs spirits
57% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Sirius
PropertyValue
HeadwordSirius
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈsɪɹi.əs/
Letters6
Frequency rank#20,774
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Sirius”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).Siriuslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Sinatra” (#20,773), “slaying” (#20,775), “silky” (#20,772). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “Sirius” is #20,774. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around Sirius (IPA /ˈsɪɹi.əs/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #20,774 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for Sirius, with forms such as "isrius", "siirus", and "sirisu". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "strips", "Straus", "spirits", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin Sīrius, from Ancient Greek Σείριος (Seírios), usually taken from σείριος (seírios, “scorching; scorcher”). The correct English form is Sirius, spelled S-I-R-I-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A telescopic binary star, visually the brightest star in the night sky, a part of the northern constellation of Canis Major (the Greater Dog), one of three stars in the Winter Triangle asterism. Long understood as a single extremely luminous white star, it was associated in ancient Egypt with the Nile flood and in Greek and Roman culture with the "dog days" of summer.
  2. 2
    The brightest star of the aforementioned star system; the white main-sequence star Sirius A.

Etymology

From Latin Sīrius, from Ancient Greek Σείριος (Seírios), usually taken from σείριος (seírios, “scorching; scorcher”).

Synonyms

Alpha Canis MajorisBlazing StarCaniculaShiraSopdetSothisthe Dog Starα Canis Majorisα CMaα Canis Majoris A

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • isrius
  • siirus
  • sirisu
  • siriuss
  • sirrius
  • siruis
  • sriius
  • ssirius

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Sirius - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

isrius2siirus2sirisu2siriuss1sirrius1siruis2sriius2ssirius1
Edit distance from "Sirius"

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 "Sirius"?
"Sirius" is spelled S-I-R-I-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsɪɹi.əs/.
What does "Sirius" mean?
As a proper noun, "Sirius" means: A telescopic binary star, visually the brightest star in the night sky, a part of the northern constellation of Canis Major (the Greater Dog), one of three stars in the Winter Triangle asterism. Lo...
What words are commonly confused with "Sirius"?
"Sirius" is commonly confused with "strips", "Straus", "spirits". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Sirius"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Sirius" is /ˈsɪɹi.əs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "Sirius"?
From Latin Sīrius, from Ancient Greek Σείριος (Seírios), usually taken from σείριος (seírios, “scorching; scorcher”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Sirius", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list