carnage

\kaʁ.naʒ\

/\kaʁ.naʒ\/ noun

The verdict

“carnage” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #15,322 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#15,322
frequency rank, French
7
letters
10
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Acte de tuer violemment ou en grand nombre

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

carnage vs carne
71% similar
carnage vs curage
71% similar
carnage vs clonage
71% similar

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

Key facts for carnage
PropertyValue
Headwordcarnage
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kaʁ.naʒ\
Letters7
Frequency rank#15,322
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “carnage” 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). carnage 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 carnage is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \kaʁ.naʒ\. Corpus data places it at rank #15,322 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 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 carnage, with forms such as "acrnage", "canrage", and "carange". 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 12 confusable-pair relationships, "carne", "curage", "clonage", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, 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 carnage, spelled C-A-R-N-A-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Acte de tuer violemment ou en grand nombre
  2. 2
    Chair d’autres animaux dont se nourrissent les bêtes sauvages.
  3. 3
    Puanteur.
  4. 4
    Catastrophe.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: acrnage,canrage,carange,carnaeg,carnagge,carngae,carnnage,carrnage,ccarnage,cranage

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

acrnage2canrage2carange2carnaeg2carnagge1carngae2carnnage1carrnage1
Edit distance from "carnage"

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 "carnage"?
"carnage" is spelled C-A-R-N-A-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is \kaʁ.naʒ\.
What does "carnage" mean?
As a noun, "carnage" means: Acte de tuer violemment ou en grand nombre
What words are commonly confused with "carnage"?
"carnage" is commonly confused with "carne", "curage", "clonage". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "carnage"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "carnage" is \kaʁ.naʒ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "carnage" come from?
"carnage" 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.

Using “carnage”

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

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