bêtise

\be.tiz\

/\be.tiz\/ noun

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

The verdict

“bêtise” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #8,666. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,666
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Défaut d’intelligence, de jugement, de bon sens, ou des notions les plus communes.

Corpus desk

Index FR-betise · bêtise · French

bêtise · rank #8,666 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,666
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH brad

Nearest frequency peer: brad (-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 « bêtise »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « bêtise » 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).

bêtise vs Brise
50% similar
bêtise vs boisé
50% similar
bêtise vs bette
50% similar

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

Key facts for bêtise
PropertyValue
Headwordbêtise
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\be.tiz\
Letters6
Frequency rank#8,666
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « bêtise »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).bêtisese place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « brad » (#8,665), « cachés » (#8,667), « bourbon » (#8,664). Parmi 4,251 lemmes en « B », « bêtise » est au #8,666. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around bêtise (IPA \be.tiz\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,666 among 4,251 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for bêtise, with forms such as "bbêtise", "betise", and "btêise". 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, "Brise", "boisé", "bette", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented 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 bêtise, spelled B-Ê-T-I-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Défaut d’intelligence, de jugement, de bon sens, ou des notions les plus communes.
  2. 2
    Action, propos bête.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Et tandis qu’il faisait le récit de ses journées de commerçant, qu’il riait, […],de la bêtise des touristes qui payaient trois livres un flacon d’eau de rose, elle détournait son visage pour bâiller d’ennui.
  2. La raison d'État n'est le plus souvent qu'un manteau commode pour couvrir l'ignorance, la bêtise ou la scélératesse d'une oligarchie...

This word in other languages

foolishness(English)tontería(Español)Dummheit(Deutsch)bobagem(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbêtise
  • betise
  • btêise
  • bêitse
  • bêties
  • bêtisse
  • bêtsie
  • bêttise
  • êbtise

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

bbêtise1betise1btêise2bêitse2bêties2bêtisse1bêtsie2bêttise1
Edit distance from "bêtise"

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 "bêtise"?
"bêtise" is spelled B-Ê-T-I-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is \be.tiz\.
What does "bêtise" mean?
As a noun, "bêtise" means: Défaut d’intelligence, de jugement, de bon sens, ou des notions les plus communes.
What words are commonly confused with "bêtise"?
"bêtise" is commonly confused with "Brise", "boisé", "bette". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bêtise"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bêtise" is \be.tiz\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bêtise" come from?
"bêtise" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "bêtise", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cachés#8,667balcon#8,658colons#8,675Adrien#8,647

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

battant9 variantsclassée9 variantsajoutez9 variantsCroatie9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list