sunstone

noun

"sunstone" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sunstone” is uncommon English (frequency #86,810 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#86,810
frequency rank, English
54,294
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A translucent form of feldspar having flakes of hematite, used as an ornamental stone.

Key facts for sunstone
PropertyValue
Headwordsunstone
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#86,810
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sunstone” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sunstone is uncommon English at frequency #86,810 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for sunstone, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: sun + stone. Compare Icelandic sólarsteinn. The correct English form is sunstone, spelled S-U-N-S-T-O-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A translucent form of feldspar having flakes of hematite, used as an ornamental stone.
  2. 2
    A stone, possibly Icelandic spar, said in late medieval sources to have been used by navigators in the Viking Age and later to find the location of the sun in an overcast sky, possibly via polatization of light.

Etymology

sun + stone. Compare Icelandic sólarsteinn.

Synonyms

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 "sunstone"?
"sunstone" is spelled S-U-N-S-T-O-N-E.
What does "sunstone" mean?
As a noun, "sunstone" means: A translucent form of feldspar having flakes of hematite, used as an ornamental stone.
What is the origin of the word "sunstone"?
sun + stone. Compare Icelandic sólarsteinn. 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.

Using “sunstone”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-U-N-S-T-O-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list