Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sensei

/ˈsɛnseɪ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.10 in modern English

Syllables: sen-sei
IPA: /ˈsɛnseɪ/

6

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A martial arts instructor; especially one for a Japanese martial art.

noun

A Japanese (language) teacher (sometimes used as a suffix attached to the name of a teacher, principally in translations from Japanese).

noun

A teacher, guide or mentor, in the context of Japan.

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 先生(せんせい) (sensei, “teacher; elder”), from Middle Chinese 先生 (MC sen sraeng, “master, elder”), from 先 (MC sen, “earlier, first”) + 生 (MC sraeng, “born”). Compare modern Mandarin 先生 (xiānshēng, “Mr.”). Doublet of sinseh, from Hokkien 先生 (sin-seⁿ).

Origin

Source language: Japanese

Word Breakdown

Root: -, 先生

Inflected Forms

senseis (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

sinseh

Synonyms

sifu shifu dojocho kancho kaicho

Questions

How do you pronounce sensei?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈsɛnseɪ/.
What does sensei mean?: A martial arts instructor; especially one for a Japanese martial art.
Where does sensei come from?: It is traced to Japanese.

How to pronounce sensei

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “sensei”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈsɛnseɪ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “sensei”.
Repeat and practice — Say “sensei” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.