despote

\dɛs.pɔt\

/\dɛs.pɔt\/ noun

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

The verdict

“despote” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #37,759. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#37,759
frequency rank, French
5,307
“D” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Titre porté par l’empereur byzantin puis par des princes ou hospodars de provinces danubiennes érigées en despotat.

Corpus desk

Index FR-despote · despote · French

despote · rank #37,759 · 10 variants · 12 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #37,759
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 12 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,307
  • PHOTO-FINISH dentition

Nearest frequency peer: dentition (-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 « despote »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « despote » 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).

despote vs dispose
71% similar
despote vs dispute
71% similar
despote vs désuète
57% similar

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

Key facts for despote
PropertyValue
Headworddespote
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\dɛs.pɔt\
Letters7
Frequency rank#37,759
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « despote »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.despotese 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 « dentition » (#37,758), « dial » (#37,760), « daredevil » (#37,757). Parmi 5,307 lemmes en « D », « despote » est au #37,759. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around despote (IPA \dɛs.pɔt\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #37,759 among 5,307 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for despote, with forms such as "ddespote", "depsote", and "desopte". 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 12 confusable-pair relationships, "dispose", "dispute", "désuète", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

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 despote, spelled D-E-S-P-O-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Titre porté par l’empereur byzantin puis par des princes ou hospodars de provinces danubiennes érigées en despotat.
  2. 2
    Souverain qui gouverne avec une autorité arbitraire et absolue.
  3. 3
    Quiconque exerce ou s’arroge une autorité absolue, oppressive, tyrannique.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. L’État au sens du règne d’un dynaste, d’un satrape ou d’un despote, n’en semble pas moins être la structure la plus durable d’organisation du pouvoir dans l’islam.
  2. Toutes les actions de Nadir ne furent plus que les caprices sanglants d’un despote cruel et avare; et lorsque des insurrections, habilement fomentées par les prêtres schiites, éclatèrent de tous les côtés, la violence de Nadir se tourna en fureur.

Synonyms

autocratecésartyrantyranneau

This word in other languages

despot(English)déspota(Español)Machthaber(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddespote
  • depsote
  • desopte
  • despoet
  • despotte
  • desppote
  • desptoe
  • desspote
  • dsepote
  • edspote

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ddespote1depsote2desopte2despoet2despotte1desppote1desptoe2desspote1
Edit distance from "despote"

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 "despote"?
"despote" is spelled D-E-S-P-O-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is \dɛs.pɔt\.
What does "despote" mean?
As a noun, "despote" means: Titre porté par l’empereur byzantin puis par des princes ou hospodars de provinces danubiennes érigées en despotat.
What words are commonly confused with "despote"?
"despote" is commonly confused with "dispose", "dispute", "désuète". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "despote"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "despote" is \dɛs.pɔt\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "despote" come from?
"despote" 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 "despote", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

coûtant#37,752druides#37,766couchez#37,751cotiser#37,750

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

Durance10 variantscoopère10 variantsdéraille10 variantsenclume10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list