censorvssensorWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: censor is a adjective, sensor is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“censor” is an adjective and “sensor” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,698
“censor” frequency rank
#17,815
“sensor” frequency rank
49513
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature censor sensor
Definition Que pertenece o concierne censura censurar. Dispositivo que recibe o responde estímulos como la luz, la temperatura, el nivel de radiación, presión, etcétera, usualmente envia una señal a un observador o a un instrumento de medición o de control.

Same sound, different letters: censor vs sensor

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters.

6 ch
censor
6 ch
sensor

Ear matches; page differs - censor and sensor

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: censor and sensor carry the same recorded pronunciation, [sẽnˈsoɾ]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - c in “censor” becomes s in “sensor”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49513, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

censor is recorded at frequency rank #31,698, classified as anadj, pronounced [sẽnˈsoɾ]. sensor is at rank #17,815, tagged as anoun, pronounced [sẽnˈsoɾ].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 49513, this pair ranks #108,415 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of censor vs sensor

Shared letters: enors. Private to "censor": c. Private to "sensor": -.

"censor" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "sensor" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • censorccensor · cennsor · cenosr · censorr · censro · censsor · cesnor · cnesor
  • sensoresnsor · sennsor · senosr · sensorr · sensro · senssor · sesnor · snesor

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "censor" and "sensor" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "censor" is an adjective and "sensor" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "censor" or "sensor"?
"sensor" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,815 in our Spanish list, against #31,698 for "censor". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've separated the homophone pair "censor" / "sensor". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "censor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sensor" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #108,415 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "censor" and "sensor" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "censal vs censor". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #108,415 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list