cliff

\klɪf\

/\klɪf\/ noun

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

The verdict

“cliff” has 6 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #23,486. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,486
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
18
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Falaise.

Corpus desk

Index FR-cliff · cliff · French

cliff · rank #23,486 · 6 variants · 18 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #23,486
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 18 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH Clemenceau

Nearest frequency peer: Clemenceau (-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 « cliff »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « cliff » 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).

cliff vs clip
60% similar
cliff vs clin
60% similar
cliff vs clim
60% similar

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

Key facts for cliff
PropertyValue
Headwordcliff
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\klɪf\
Letters5
Frequency rank#23,486
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs18
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « cliff »

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

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « Clemenceau » (#23,485), « Cluny » (#23,487), « circoncision » (#23,484). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « cliff » est au #23,486. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around cliff (IPA \klɪf\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #23,486 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for cliff, with forms such as "ccliff", "cilff", and "clfif". 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 18 confusable-pair relationships, "clip", "clin", "clim", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is cliff, spelled C-L-I-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Falaise.
  2. 2
    Escarpement.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The mountain cliff is impossible to climb.
  2. That overhanging cliff blocks a lot of the sunlight for the house.

Synonyms

escarpment

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccliff
  • cilff
  • clfif
  • clif
  • clliff
  • lciff

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ccliff1cilff2clfif2clif1clliff1lciff2
Edit distance from "cliff"

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 "cliff"?
"cliff" is spelled C-L-I-F-F. The IPA pronunciation is \klɪf\.
What does "cliff" mean?
As a noun, "cliff" means: Falaise.
What words are commonly confused with "cliff"?
"cliff" is commonly confused with "clip", "clin", "clim". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cliff"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cliff" is \klɪf\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cliff" come from?
"cliff" 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 "cliff", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Cluny#23,487CROUS#23,502avare#23,458aride#23,452

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

damn6 variantsDing6 variantsfarm6 variantsHank6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list