dentelle
\dɑ̃.tɛl\
The verdict
“dentelle” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #14,446 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #14,446
- frequency rank, French
- 8
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Sorte de passement à jour et à mailles très fines.
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 | dentelle |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \dɑ̃.tɛl\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #14,446 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dentelle” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for dentelle is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \dɑ̃.tɛl\. Corpus data places it at rank #14,446 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for dentelle, with forms such as "ddentelle", "denetlle", and "denntelle". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "dentelles", "Danielle", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is dentelle, spelled D-E-N-T-E-L-L-E.
Definition
- 1Sorte de passement à jour et à mailles très fines.
- 2Dentelle de fil.
- 3Ornement en forme de dentelles.
- 4Sculptures à jour qu’on fait dans la pierre.
- 5Rebord de toiture, en bois ou en tôle, découpé de manière dentelée, festonnée. On dit aussi lambrequin.
- 6Papier finement découpé à jour dont on couvre les boîtes de confiserie.
- 7Papier finement découpé à jour dont on se sert pour la correspondance privée.
- 8Partie d’un diamant taillée en rose.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddentelle,denetlle,denntelle,dentele,dentelel,dentlele,denttelle,detnelle,dnetelle,edntelle
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dentelle - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "dentelle"?
What does "dentelle" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "dentelle"?
How do you pronounce "dentelle"?
What language does "dentelle" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “dentelle”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is D-E-N-T-E-L-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \dɑ̃.tɛl\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “dentelles” - see the side-by-side comparison. dentelle vs dentelles
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.