sens

\sɑ̃s\

/\sɑ̃s\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“sens” has 6 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #260. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#260
frequency rank, French
6,032
“S” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Signification, ce que quelque chose veut dire.

Corpus desk

Index FR-sens · sens · French

sens · rank #260 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #260
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,032
  • PHOTO-FINISH raison

Nearest frequency peer: raison (-1 rank slots)

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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “sens”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “sens” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

sens vs ss
50% similar
sens vs sn
50% similar
sens vs son
50% similar

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

Key facts for sens
PropertyValue
Headwordsens
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\sɑ̃s\
Letters4
Frequency rank#260
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “sens” se place dans la fréquence du français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.sensse place ici:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « raison » (#259), « ailleurs » (#261), « question » (#258). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around sens (IPA \sɑ̃s\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #260 among 6,032 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for sens, with forms such as "esns", "senns", and "senss". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ss", "sn", "son", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is sens, spelled S-E-N-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Signification, ce que quelque chose veut dire.
  2. 2
    Idée cohérente qu'on se fait de sa place dans l'univers et du déroulement de sa vie.
  3. 3
    Faculté de percevoir les impressions faites par les objets extérieurs.
  4. 4
    Manière de juger, de comprendre. Qui exprime le sentiment, l’opinion de quelqu’un concernant un sujet donné.
  5. 5
    Raison, intelligence.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how sens appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Lorsque l’interprète me traduisit le sens général du discours, je fus émerveillé.
  2. L’équipe du journal Charlie-Hebdo, qui marquera beaucoup plus que Barthes ou Foucault la culture française, pratique au contraire joyeusement la désintégration syntaxique de la langue. Mais il est frappant de constater que leur manque de respect pour les règles de l’école communale n’entame pas la clarté du texte. Au contraire, l’équipe du Collège de Fran…

This word in other languages

meaning(English)sentido(Español)Bedeutung(Deutsch)sentido(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • esns
  • senns
  • senss
  • sesn
  • snes
  • ssens

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sens - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

esns2senns1senss1sesn2snes2ssens1
Edit distance from "sens"

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sens"?
"sens" is spelled S-E-N-S. The IPA pronunciation is \sɑ̃s\.
What does "sens" mean?
As a noun, "sens" means: Signification, ce que quelque chose veut dire.
What words are commonly confused with "sens"?
"sens" is commonly confused with "ss", "sn", "son". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sens"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sens" is \sɑ̃s\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sens" come from?
"sens" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

avez#262soir#268jean#272font#281

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

suite6 variantstête6 variantsavais6 variantstant6 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "sens". Here's where to go from here.

  • "sens" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "ss". View pair
  • 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #260 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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