déserter

\de.zɛʁ.te\

/\de.zɛʁ.te\/ verb

The verdict

“déserter” has 13 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #40,232. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#40,232
frequency rank, French
5,307
“D” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
17
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Abandonner un lieu, pour quelque cause que ce soit.

Corpus desk

Index FR-deserter · déserter · French

déserter · rank #40,232 · 13 variants · 17 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #40,232
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 17 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,307
  • PHOTO-FINISH déroulaient

Nearest frequency peer: déroulaient (-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 « déserter »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « déserter » 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).

déserter vs désirer
75% similar
déserter vs déserts
75% similar
déserter vs détecter
75% similar

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

Key facts for déserter
PropertyValue
Headworddéserter
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\de.zɛʁ.te\
Letters8
Frequency rank#40,232
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « déserter »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).déserterse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « déroulaient » (#40,231), « dépositaires » (#40,230), « ecstasy » (#40,234). Parmi 5,307 lemmes en « D », « déserter » est au #40,232. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around déserter (IPA \de.zɛʁ.te\), averb. Corpus frequency is #40,232 among 5,307 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for déserter, with forms such as "ddéserter", "deserter", and "dséerter". 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 17 confusable-pair relationships, "désirer", "déserts", "détecter", 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 déserter, spelled D-É-S-E-R-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Abandonner un lieu, pour quelque cause que ce soit.
  2. 2
    Abandonner le service sans congé, en parlant des soldats et des marins.
  3. 3
    Abandonner une religion, une cause, un parti, etc.
  4. 4
    S’éloigner d’un lieu en y étant forcé par telle ou telle cause.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Quand nous blâmons les Bas-Alpins de déserter leur pays, ayons la franchise de nous poser cette question : et moi-même, si j'avais vingt ans, y resterais-je ?
  2. On pouvait trouver toutes sortes de choses chez le Chinois : Alimentation et produits de première nécessité, droguerie, bazar et quincaillerie. Autres temps, autres mœurs, les clients ont déserté la boutique pour aller faire leurs courses ailleurs, dans les grandes surfaces.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddéserter
  • deserter
  • dséerter
  • déesrter
  • déseretr
  • déserrter
  • déserterr
  • désertre
  • désertter
  • désetrer
  • désreter
  • désserter
  • édserter

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ddéserter1deserter1dséerter2déesrter2déseretr2déserrter1déserterr1désertre2
Edit distance from "déserter"

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 "déserter"?
"déserter" is spelled D-É-S-E-R-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \de.zɛʁ.te\.
What does "déserter" mean?
As a verb, "déserter" means: Abandonner un lieu, pour quelque cause que ce soit.
What words are commonly confused with "déserter"?
"déserter" is commonly confused with "désirer", "déserts", "détecter". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "déserter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "déserter" is \de.zɛʁ.te\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "déserter" come from?
"déserter" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "déserter", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list