chiffon

\ʃi.fɔ̃\

/\ʃi.fɔ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“chiffon” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #22,794. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#22,794
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Mauvais linge, mauvais morceau d’étoffe ou rognure d’une étoffe neuve, utilisé pour nettoyer.

Corpus desk

Index FR-chiffon · chiffon · French

chiffon · rank #22,794 · 9 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #22,794
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH cheese

Nearest frequency peer: cheese (-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 « chiffon »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « chiffon » 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).

chiffon vs Chinon
57% similar
chiffon vs chiron
71% similar
chiffon vs chiffre
71% similar

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

Key facts for chiffon
PropertyValue
Headwordchiffon
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʃi.fɔ̃\
Letters7
Frequency rank#22,794
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « chiffon »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.chiffonse place ici:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « cheese » (#22,793), « chlorure » (#22,795), « chaleureuse » (#22,792). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « chiffon » est au #22,794. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around chiffon (IPA \ʃi.fɔ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #22,794 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for chiffon, with forms such as "cchiffon", "chfifon", and "chhiffon". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "Chinon", "chiron", "chiffre", 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, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is chiffon, spelled C-H-I-F-F-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mauvais linge, mauvais morceau d’étoffe ou rognure d’une étoffe neuve, utilisé pour nettoyer.
  2. 2
    Crêpe légère et souple, souvent de soie.
  3. 3
    Tout ajustement de femme qui ne sert qu’à la parure.
  4. 4
    Écrit dont le contenu n’est d’aucune importance, d’aucune valeur, brouillon.
  5. 5
    Chose qui a perdu l’aspect qu’il devrait avoir.
  6. 6
    Morceau, bout, quignon.
  7. 7
    Bout de chou, petit enfant ou très jeune fille.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sans doute que la serpillère est humide, car une fois l’opération de dépoussiérage terminée, l’homme la rhabille d’un chiffon blanc immaculé et achève le polissage de l’inox.
  2. Pour le coton, la fabrication du papier tient aujourd’hui les chiffons à un prix trop élevé pour que, en dehors des temps de crise, on ait intérêt à les déflocher.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cchiffon
  • chfifon
  • chhiffon
  • chiffno
  • chiffonn
  • chifofn
  • chifon
  • cihffon
  • hciffon

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

cchiffon1chfifon2chhiffon1chiffno2chiffonn1chifofn2chifon1cihffon2
Edit distance from "chiffon"

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 "chiffon"?
"chiffon" is spelled C-H-I-F-F-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ʃi.fɔ̃\.
What does "chiffon" mean?
As a noun, "chiffon" means: Mauvais linge, mauvais morceau d’étoffe ou rognure d’une étoffe neuve, utilisé pour nettoyer.
What words are commonly confused with "chiffon"?
"chiffon" is commonly confused with "Chinon", "chiron", "chiffre". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "chiffon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chiffon" is \ʃi.fɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "chiffon" come from?
"chiffon" 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 "chiffon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

citerne#22,798califat#22,788brisées#22,784bossent#22,781

Similar misspelling depth

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

Cholet9 variantsbrutus9 variantsbeurette9 variantsastres9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list