compliquer

\kɔ̃.pli.ke\

/\kɔ̃.pli.ke\/ verb

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

The verdict

“compliquer” has 15 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #13,756. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,756
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Rendre confus ou difficile à comprendre.

Corpus desk

Index FR-compliquer · compliquer · French

compliquer · rank #13,756 · 15 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,756
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH comparativeme…

Nearest frequency peer: comparativement (-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 « compliquer »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « compliquer » 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).

compliquer vs compliqué
80% similar
compliquer vs compliquée
80% similar
compliquer vs compliquées
82% similar

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

Key facts for compliquer
PropertyValue
Headwordcompliquer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\kɔ̃.pli.ke\
Letters10
Frequency rank#13,756
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « compliquer »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.compliquerse 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 « comparativement » (#13,755), « compliquées » (#13,757), « compact » (#13,754). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « compliquer » est au #13,756. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around compliquer (IPA \kɔ̃.pli.ke\), averb. Corpus frequency is #13,756 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for compliquer, with forms such as "ccompliquer", "cmopliquer", and "comlpiquer". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "compliqué", "compliquée", "compliquées", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is compliquer, spelled C-O-M-P-L-I-Q-U-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Rendre confus ou difficile à comprendre.
  2. 2
    Former un assemblage dont les parties, plus ou moins nombreuses, ont entre elles des rapports multipliés et difficiles à saisir.
  3. 3
    Aggraver.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Tu compliques les affaires.
  2. Depuis Ronsard et Joachim du Bellay les meilleurs esprits trouvent l’orthographe française trop surchargée, sentent le besoin de la simplifier. Voici pourquoi. C’est qu’elle était très simple au XVᵉ siècle, et que les grammairiens du XVIᵉ siècle, par affectation scientifique, par pédantisme, l’avaient grièvement compliquée.

Synonyms

embrouillerobscurcircomplexifier

Antonyms

décompliquersimplifieréclairer

This word in other languages

complicate(English)complicar(Español)erschweren(Deutsch)complicar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccompliquer
  • cmopliquer
  • comlpiquer
  • commpliquer
  • compilquer
  • compliqeur
  • compliqquer
  • compliquerr
  • compliqure
  • compliuqer
  • complliquer
  • complqiuer
  • comppliquer
  • copmliquer
  • ocmpliquer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of compliquer - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccompliquer1cmopliquer2comlpiquer2commpliquer1compilquer2compliqeur2compliqquer1compliquerr1
Edit distance from "compliquer"

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 "compliquer"?
"compliquer" is spelled C-O-M-P-L-I-Q-U-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ̃.pli.ke\.
What does "compliquer" mean?
As a verb, "compliquer" means: Rendre confus ou difficile à comprendre.
What words are commonly confused with "compliquer"?
"compliquer" is commonly confused with "compliqué", "compliquée", "compliquées". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "compliquer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "compliquer" is \kɔ̃.pli.ke\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "compliquer" come from?
"compliquer" 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 "compliquer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

confronter#13,758contredire#13,759commencera#13,751courtoisie#13,761

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

Camerounais15 variantsextensions15 variantsfinlandais15 variantsintégrant15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list