défaut

/\de.fo\/ noun

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#1,950

in French word usage

Misspellings

9

tracked variants

Confusables

15

similar word pairs

défaut is aFrenchnoun. It means: Imperfection physique. Pronounced \de.fo\. It ranks #1,950 in French word frequency. Often confused with dégât and devant.

Key facts for défaut
PropertyValue
Headworddéfaut
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\de.fo\
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,950
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs15
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of défaut in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for défaut is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \de.fo\. Corpus data places it at rank #1,950 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for défaut, with forms such as "ddéfaut", "defaut", and "dféaut". 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 15 confusable-pair relationships, "dégât", "devant", "départ", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is défaut, spelled D-É-F-A-U-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Imperfection physique.
  2. 2
    Imperfection morale.
  3. 3
    Ce qui n’est pas conforme aux règles de l’art, de ce qui choque le goût, le bon sens, dans un ouvrage, dans une production quelconque.
  4. 4
    Parties faibles ou défectueuses dans une étoffe, dans du bois, dans un ouvrage quelconque.
  5. 5
    Absence, manque, privation de quelque chose.
  6. 6
    Absence de certaines qualités, de certains avantages.
  7. 7
    Manquement à une assignation ou une convocation.
  8. 8
    Manière d’arrondir.
  9. 9
    Endroit du corps où se termine une pièce anatomique.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ddéfaut,defaut,dféaut,déafut,défatu,défautt,déffaut,défuat,édfaut

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for défaut

Misspelling Variants of "défaut"

ddéfaut7defaut6dféaut6déafut6défatu6défautt7déffaut7défuat6
Misspelling Variants of "défaut"

Frequency rank: #1,950 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "défaut"?
"défaut" is spelled D-É-F-A-U-T. The IPA pronunciation is \de.fo\.
What does "défaut" mean?
As a noun, "défaut" means: Imperfection physique.
What words are commonly confused with "défaut"?
"défaut" is commonly confused with "dégât", "devant", "départ". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "défaut"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "défaut" is \de.fo\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "défaut" come from?
"défaut" 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.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter D in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

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.