attendre

\a.tɑ̃dʁ\

/\a.tɑ̃dʁ\/ verb

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

The verdict

“attendre” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #784 in French word frequency and used as a verb.

#784
frequency rank, French
8
letters
10
tracked misspellings
18
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ne pas bouger, rester là où l’on est pour la venue de quelque chose ou de quelqu’un.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

attendre vs attends
75% similar
attendre vs attendu
75% similar
attendre vs attente
75% similar

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

Key facts for attendre
PropertyValue
Headwordattendre
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\a.tɑ̃dʁ\
Letters8
Frequency rank#784
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs18
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “attendre” 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). attendre 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 attendre is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \a.tɑ̃dʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #784 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for attendre, with forms such as "atendre", "atetndre", and "attednre". 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 18 confusable-pair relationships, "attends", "attendu", "attente", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

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 attendre, spelled A-T-T-E-N-D-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Ne pas bouger, rester là où l’on est pour la venue de quelque chose ou de quelqu’un.
  2. 2
    Différer une action jusqu’à une limite temporelle.
  3. 3
    Être prêt ou préparé pour une action.
  4. 4
    Souhaiter ou se préparer à la survenue d’un événement.
  5. 5
    Se dit de certaines choses qui menacent une personne ou qui lui sont destinées, réservées.
  6. 6
    Entendre, ouïr.
  7. 7
    Espérer, se promettre ou prévoir quelque chose.
  8. 8
    attendre sur quelqu’un : attendre quelqu’un.
  9. 9
    Prévoir quelque chose.
  10. 10
    S’imaginer quelque chose.

Synonyms

patienter

Antonyms

agirpartir

This word in other languages

wait for(English)esperar(Español)harren(Deutsch)esperar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: atendre,atetndre,attednre,attenddre,attender,attendrre,attenndre,attenrde,attnedre,tatendre

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

atendre1atetndre2attednre2attenddre1attender2attendrre1attenndre1attenrde2
Edit distance from "attendre"

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 "attendre"?
"attendre" is spelled A-T-T-E-N-D-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \a.tɑ̃dʁ\.
What does "attendre" mean?
As a verb, "attendre" means: Ne pas bouger, rester là où l’on est pour la venue de quelque chose ou de quelqu’un.
What words are commonly confused with "attendre"?
"attendre" is commonly confused with "attends", "attendu", "attente". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "attendre"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "attendre" is \a.tɑ̃dʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "attendre" come from?
"attendre" 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 “attendre”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is A-T-T-E-N-D-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \a.tɑ̃dʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “attends” - see the side-by-side comparison. attendre vs attends
  • 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