absence

\ap.sɑ̃s\

/\ap.sɑ̃s\/ noun

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

The verdict

“absence” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #1,218. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,218
frequency rank, French
6,727
“A” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Inexistence.

Corpus desk

Index FR-absence · absence · French

absence · rank #1,218 · 10 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,218
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,727
  • PHOTO-FINISH étudiants

Nearest frequency peer: étudiants (-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 “absence”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “absence” 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 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

absence vs agence
71% similar
absence vs absent
71% similar
absence vs Arsène
43% similar

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

Key facts for absence
PropertyValue
Headwordabsence
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ap.sɑ̃s\
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,218
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “absence” sits in French 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). absence lands here:

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

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

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around absence (IPA \ap.sɑ̃s\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,218 among 6,727 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for absence, with forms such as "abbsence", "abesnce", and "absecne". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "agence", "absent", "Arsène", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is absence, spelled A-B-S-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Inexistence.
  2. 2
    Fait d’être absent, éloignement géographique et temporel.
  3. 3
    Défaut de présence à une réunion, à une assignation, à un appel.
  4. 4
    Situation d’une personne dont on n’a pas reçu de nouvelles depuis une certaine époque et dont la résidence actuelle n’est pas connue.
  5. 5
    Perte passagère de la mémoire voire arrêt momentané de la conscience. Il s’agit d’une manifestation mineure de l’épilepsie généralisée.
  6. 6
    Au sens moral.
  7. 7
    Distraction, manque d’attention.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ripartites helomorphus se distingue de ses congénères par le chapeau gibbeux et charnu, beaucoup plus épais que la largeur des lamelles, par l’absence de cils marginaux et par ses spores très petites à verrues basses et arrondies.
  2. Il est probable qu’aucune preuve de vie ne soit trouvée sur Mars, et la question restera sans réponse (l’absence de preuve n’est pas une preuve d’absence).

Synonyms

épilepsie absencepetit mal

Antonyms

présence

This word in other languages

absence(English)ausencia(Español)Absenz(Deutsch)ausência(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abbsence
  • abesnce
  • absecne
  • absencce
  • absenec
  • absennce
  • absnece
  • abssence
  • asbence
  • basence

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of absence - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

abbsence1abesnce2absecne2absencce1absenec2absennce1absnece2abssence1
Edit distance from "absence"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "absence"?
"absence" is spelled A-B-S-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ap.sɑ̃s\.
What does "absence" mean?
As a noun, "absence" means: Inexistence.
What words are commonly confused with "absence"?
"absence" is commonly confused with "agence", "absent", "Arsène". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "absence"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "absence" is \ap.sɑ̃s\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "absence" come from?
"absence" 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 "absence", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

voulais#1,216blanche#1,221capable#1,222clients#1,225

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

science10 variantsrevient10 variantsjacques10 variantsémission10 variants

What to do next

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

  • "absence" maps to 8 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "agence". View pair
  • 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #1,218 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "A" letter cohort. A–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