# spinster

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈspɪnstə/ · frequency rank #42,416

## Definitions
1. A woman who has never been married, especially one past the typical marrying age according to social traditions.
2. One who spins (puts a spin on) a political media story so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance; a spin doctor, spin merchant or spinmeister.
3. Someone whose occupation was spinning thread.
4. A woman of evil life and character; so called from being forced to spin in a house of correction.
5. A spider; an insect (such as a silkworm) which spins thread.

## Etymology
From Middle English spynnestere (“woman who spins fibre”), from c. 1350; equivalent to spin + -ster. The semantic development is from a historical notion of unmarried women spinning thread for a living.

## Easily confused with
- **splinter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spinster-vs-splinter)
- **sprinter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spinster-vs-sprinter)
- **sister** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sister-vs-spinster)
- **spinner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spinner-vs-spinster)
- **Spenser** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spenser-vs-spinster)
- **sinister** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sinister-vs-spinster)
- **sphincter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sphincter-vs-spinster)

## Common misspellings (13)
`psinster`, `sipnster`, `spinnster`, `spinsetr`, `spinsster`, `spinsterr`, `spinstre`, `spinstter`, `spintser`, `spisnter`, `spnister`, `sppinster`, `sspinster`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/spinster