affliction

\a.flik.sjɔ̃\

/\a.flik.sjɔ̃\/ noun

The verdict

“affliction” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #45,417 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#45,417
frequency rank, French
10
letters
13
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Immense chagrin ; abattement profond.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

affliction vs affection
80% similar
affliction vs affiliation
82% similar

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

Key facts for affliction
PropertyValue
Headwordaffliction
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\a.flik.sjɔ̃\
Letters10
Frequency rank#45,417
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “affliction” 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). affliction lands here:

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

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for affliction is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \a.flik.sjɔ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #45,417 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for affliction, with forms such as "affilction", "afflcition", and "afflicction". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "affection", "affiliation", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is affliction, spelled A-F-F-L-I-C-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Immense chagrin ; abattement profond.
  2. 2
    Grand malheur ; catastrophe.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: affilction,afflcition,afflicction,affliciton,afflictino,afflictionn,afflictoin,afflicttion,afflitcion,afflliction,aflfiction,afliction,fafliction

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of affliction - 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.

affilction2afflcition2afflicction1affliciton2afflictino2afflictionn1afflictoin2afflicttion1
Edit distance from "affliction"

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 "affliction"?
"affliction" is spelled A-F-F-L-I-C-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \a.flik.sjɔ̃\.
What does "affliction" mean?
As a noun, "affliction" means: Immense chagrin ; abattement profond.
What words are commonly confused with "affliction"?
"affliction" is commonly confused with "affection", "affiliation". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "affliction"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "affliction" is \a.flik.sjɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "affliction" come from?
"affliction" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 “affliction”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is A-F-F-L-I-C-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \a.flik.sjɔ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “affection” - see the side-by-side comparison. affliction vs affection
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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