désespérer

\de.zɛs.pe.ʁe\

/\de.zɛs.pe.ʁe\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“désespérer” has 16 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #28,145. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#28,145
frequency rank, French
5,307
“D” headwords
16
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Perdre l’espoir de quelque chose.

Corpus desk

Index FR-desesperer · désespérer · French

désespérer · rank #28,145 · 16 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #28,145
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,307
  • PHOTO-FINISH dénuée

Nearest frequency peer: dénuée (-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 « désespérer »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « désespérer » 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).

désespérer vs désespéré
80% similar
désespérer vs désespérée
80% similar
désespérer vs désespérées
82% similar

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

Key facts for désespérer
PropertyValue
Headworddésespérer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\de.zɛs.pe.ʁe\
Letters10
Frequency rank#28,145
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « désespérer »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).désespérerse place ici:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « dénuée » (#28,144), « désolés » (#28,146), « déstabilisation » (#28,147). Parmi 5,307 lemmes en « D », « désespérer » est au #28,145. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around désespérer (IPA \de.zɛs.pe.ʁe\), averb. Corpus frequency is #28,145 among 5,307 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for désespérer, with forms such as "ddésespérer", "desesperer", and "dséespérer". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "désespéré", "désespérée", "désespérées", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is désespérer, spelled D-É-S-E-S-P-É-R-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Perdre l’espoir de quelque chose.
  2. 2
    Ne plus espérer une amélioration, un amendement, une bonne fin, en parlant d'une personne.
  3. 3
    Mettre, pousser au désespoir.
  4. 4
    Se tourmenter, s’agiter avec de grandes démonstrations de douleur, d’affliction.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Il s'interrompit net et nous fit un sourire plutôt torve et en coin, comme s'il désespérait d'arriver à traduire en mots sa pensée.
  2. L’exploit dont on désespérait était accompli ! Un homme voyageait dans les airs, à son gré et en toute sécurité !

This word in other languages

despair(English)verzweifeln(Deutsch)desesperar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddésespérer
  • desesperer
  • dséespérer
  • déesspérer
  • désepsérer
  • désesppérer
  • désespréer
  • désespéerr
  • désespérerr
  • désespérre
  • désespérrer
  • désesspérer
  • déseséprer
  • déssepérer
  • déssespérer
  • édsespérer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of désespérer - 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.

ddésespérer1desesperer2dséespérer2déesspérer2désepsérer2désesppérer1désespréer2désespéerr2
Edit distance from "désespérer"

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 "désespérer"?
"désespérer" is spelled D-É-S-E-S-P-É-R-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \de.zɛs.pe.ʁe\.
What does "désespérer" mean?
As a verb, "désespérer" means: Perdre l’espoir de quelque chose.
What words are commonly confused with "désespérer"?
"désespérer" is commonly confused with "désespéré", "désespérée", "désespérées". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "désespérer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "désespérer" is \de.zɛs.pe.ʁe\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "désespérer" come from?
"désespérer" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "désespérer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

enseignait#28,155doctorants#28,133espéraient#28,161contestent#28,115

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

craignaient16 variantscontenaient16 variantschocolatine16 variantsalcoolisées16 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list