basta

\bas.ta\

/\bas.ta\/ intj

The verdict

“basta” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #22,777 in French word frequency and used as an interjection.

#22,777
frequency rank, French
5
letters
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ça suffit. C'est assez.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

basta vs bat
60% similar
basta vs best
60% similar
basta vs bâti
40% similar

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

Key facts for basta
PropertyValue
Headwordbasta
LanguageFrench
Part of speechInterjection
IPA\bas.ta\
Letters5
Frequency rank#22,777
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “basta” 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). basta 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 basta is 5 letters long, classified as an interjection, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \bas.ta\. Corpus data places it at rank #22,777 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Ça suffit. C'est assez.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for basta, with forms such as "absta", "basat", and "bassta". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bat", "best", "bâti", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is basta, spelled B-A-S-T-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Ça suffit. C'est assez.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: absta,basat,bassta,bastta,batsa,bbasta,bsata

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

absta2basat2bassta1bastta1batsa2bbasta1bsata2
Edit distance from "basta"

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 "basta"?
"basta" is spelled B-A-S-T-A. The IPA pronunciation is \bas.ta\.
What does "basta" mean?
As an interjection, "basta" means: Ça suffit. C'est assez.
What words are commonly confused with "basta"?
"basta" is commonly confused with "bat", "best", "bâti". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "basta"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "basta" is \bas.ta\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "basta" come from?
"basta" 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 “basta”

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

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