défensive
\de.fɑ̃.siv\
The verdict
“défensive” has 14 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #11,392. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #11,392
- frequency rank, French
- 5,307
- “D” headwords
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Disposition à se défendre, à ne faire simplement que se défendre.
Corpus desk
Index FR-defensive · défensive · French
défensive · rank #11,392 · 14 variants · 4 confusables
- FREQ-MID #11,392
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 14 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,307
- PHOTO-FINISH déduire
Nearest frequency peer: déduire (-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 « défensive »
Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin
- découle
découle
88,611 corpus weight
- déduire
déduire
88,610 corpus weight
- défensive
défensive
88,609 corpus weight
- définies
définies
88,608 corpus weight
- déployer
déployer
88,607 corpus weight
- dérives
dérives
88,606 corpus weight
What this shows « défensive » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.
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 | défensive |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \de.fɑ̃.siv\ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #11,392 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « défensive »
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 14 spelling variants around défensive (IPA \de.fɑ̃.siv\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,392 among 5,307 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Disposition à se défendre, à ne faire simplement que se défendre.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for défensive, with forms such as "ddéfensive", "defensive", and "dféensive". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "défensives", "défense", "défensif", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is défensive, spelled D-É-F-E-N-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Disposition à se défendre, à ne faire simplement que se défendre.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how défensive appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Chacun tenant à rester sur la défensive, le silence se prolongeait quand le Carcan, pour rompre cette gêne, trouva un moyen terme et entama l’éloge du vin qui restait dans son verre.
Dans les cours, faucheuses, herseuses aux métalliques roues crantées, l'air de mantes religieuses sur la défensive, levaient haut leurs brancards de fer.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddéfensive
- defensive
- dféensive
- déefnsive
- défenisve
- défennsive
- défensiev
- défensivve
- défenssive
- défensvie
- défesnive
- déffensive
- défnesive
- édfensive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of défensive - 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 "défensive"?
What does "défensive" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "défensive"?
How do you pronounce "défensive"?
What language does "défensive" come from?
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Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "défensive", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).