barboter

\baʁ.bɔ.te\

/\baʁ.bɔ.te\/ verb

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

The verdict

“barboter” is uncommon French (frequency #84,553 among 4,251 “B” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#84,553
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (S’)agiter dans l’eau ou la boue.

Corpus desk

Index FR-barboter · barboter · French

barboter · rank #84,553 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #84,553
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH baratte

Nearest frequency peer: baratte (-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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « barboter »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « barboter » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for barboter
PropertyValue
Headwordbarboter
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\baʁ.bɔ.te\
Letters8
Frequency rank#84,553
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « barboter » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).barbotertombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « baratte » (#84,552), « barcelonaise » (#84,554), « ballu » (#84,551). Parmi 4,251 lemmes en « B », « barboter » est au #84,553. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

barboter is uncommon French at frequency #84,553 among 4,251 “B” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed \baʁ.bɔ.te\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 10 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for barboter, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is barboter, spelled B-A-R-B-O-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    (S’)agiter dans l’eau ou la boue.
  2. 2
    (S’)agiter dans l’eau ou la boue.
  3. 3
    (S’)agiter dans l’eau ou la boue.
  4. 4
    (S’)agiter dans l’eau ou la boue.
  5. 5
    (S’)agiter dans l’eau ou la boue.
  6. 6
    Être embourbé dans une situation confuse, difficile ou dégradante.
  7. 7
    Être embourbé dans une situation confuse, difficile ou dégradante.
  8. 8
    Bredouiller, marmonner, parler d’une manière confuse, s’embrouiller dans ses explications.
  9. 9
    Se livrer à des opérations financières douteuses, malhonnêtes ; trafiquer.
  10. 10
    Dérober, voler.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Un jour, je jetai dans un fossé plein d’eau Jules et sa sœur, et je me sauvai, les laissant barboter et se débattre.
  2. Il y a quelque chose de profondément jouissif dans le fait d'imaginer les millions de gens en doudoune qui se caillent les miches en France à l'heure où je barbote dans cette eau à trente degrés.

Synonyms

grenouillerchouraverchourerfaucherpiquer

This word in other languages

lap(English)chapotear(Español)plantschen(Deutsch)bater(Português)

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 "barboter"?
"barboter" is spelled B-A-R-B-O-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \baʁ.bɔ.te\.
What does "barboter" mean?
As a verb, "barboter" means: (S’)agiter dans l’eau ou la boue.
How do you pronounce "barboter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "barboter" is \baʁ.bɔ.te\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "barboter" come from?
"barboter" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "barboter", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

baronnet#84,555baissons#84,548Biguglia#84,565Avesnois#84,540

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list