barbare

\baʁ.baʁ\

/\baʁ.baʁ\/ adj

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

The verdict

“barbare” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #13,329. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,329
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qualifie les peuples non gréco-romains.

Corpus desk

Index FR-barbare · barbare · French

barbare · rank #13,329 · 10 variants · 12 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,329
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 12 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH attirant

Nearest frequency peer: attirant (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « barbare »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « barbare » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

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).

barbare vs barre
71% similar
barbare vs barbe
71% similar
barbare vs Barbie
57% similar

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

Key facts for barbare
PropertyValue
Headwordbarbare
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\baʁ.baʁ\
Letters7
Frequency rank#13,329
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « barbare »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.barbarese 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 « attirant » (#13,328), « barreaux » (#13,331), « astronomie » (#13,326). Parmi 4,251 lemmes en « B », « barbare » est au #13,329. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around barbare (IPA \baʁ.baʁ\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #13,329 among 4,251 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for barbare, with forms such as "abrbare", "babrare", and "barabre". 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 12 confusable-pair relationships, "barre", "barbe", "Barbie", 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 explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is barbare, spelled B-A-R-B-A-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qualifie les peuples non gréco-romains.
  2. 2
    Qualifie le peuple berbère, issu de la Côte barbaresque.
  3. 3
    Qui est très violent.
  4. 4
    Se dit des mots et des tours du langage contraires à l’usage ou à l’analogie.
  5. 5
    Qui est cruel, inhumain.
  6. 6
    Qui manque d’harmonie, de style.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Au Vᵉ siècle, l’empire romain, miné par les luttes intestines, tombe en déliquescence. Des invasions de peuples barbares désolent et bouleversent aussi bien Rome que les Gaules.
  2. L’empire romain, centralisé, indiscuté et unique a ébaudi les barbares par une architecture colossale de pierre, donc incorruptible.

Antonyms

civilisé

This word in other languages

barbarian(English)barbarisch(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abrbare
  • babrare
  • barabre
  • barbaer
  • barbarre
  • barbbare
  • barbrae
  • barrbare
  • bbarbare
  • brabare

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of barbare - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

abrbare2babrare2barabre2barbaer2barbarre1barbbare1barbrae2barrbare1
Edit distance from "barbare"

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 "barbare"?
"barbare" is spelled B-A-R-B-A-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \baʁ.baʁ\.
What does "barbare" mean?
As an adjective, "barbare" means: Qualifie les peuples non gréco-romains.
What words are commonly confused with "barbare"?
"barbare" is commonly confused with "barre", "barbe", "Barbie". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "barbare"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "barbare" is \baʁ.baʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "barbare" come from?
"barbare" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

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

calcium#13,336canards#13,337ancêtre#13,311amènent#13,309

Similar misspelling depth

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

attirant10 variantsapportée10 variantsaligner10 variantsajuster10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list