défaite
\de.fɛt\
The verdict
“défaite” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #2,121. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #2,121
- frequency rank, French
- 404,891
- “D” headwords
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 17
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Déroute d’une armée ou de quelques troupes.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | défaite |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \de.fɛt\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #2,121 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 17 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “défaite” sits in French frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around défaite (IPA \de.fɛt\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,121 among 404,891 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for défaite, with forms such as "ddéfaite", "defaite", and "dféaite". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "défie", "devait", "défaut", 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 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 défaite, spelled D-É-F-A-I-T-E.
Definition
- 1Déroute d’une armée ou de quelques troupes.
- 2Facilité plus ou moins grande de se défaire de quelque chose.
- 3Excuse artificieuse, mauvaise raison, prétexte.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddéfaite,defaite,dféaite,déafite,défaiet,défaitte,défatie,déffaite,défiate,édfaite
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of défaite - 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.
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 "défaite"?
What does "défaite" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "défaite"?
How do you pronounce "défaite"?
What language does "défaite" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “défaite”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is D-É-F-A-I-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \de.fɛt\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “défie” - see the side-by-side comparison. défaite vs défie
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Same frequency band
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.