destruction

\dɛs.tʁyk.sjɔ̃\

/\dɛs.tʁyk.sjɔ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“destruction” has 17 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #3,248. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,248
frequency rank, French
5,307
“D” headwords
17
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Action de détruire, au propre et au figuré.

Corpus desk

Index FR-destruction · destruction · French

destruction · rank #3,248 · 17 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,248
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 17 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,307
  • PHOTO-FINISH dessins

Nearest frequency peer: dessins (-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 « destruction »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « destruction » 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).

destruction vs distraction
82% similar
destruction vs destructions
92% similar

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

Key facts for destruction
PropertyValue
Headworddestruction
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\dɛs.tʁyk.sjɔ̃\
Letters11
Frequency rank#3,248
Misspellings tracked17
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « destruction »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).destructionse 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 « dessins » (#3,247), « devaient » (#3,249), « cultures » (#3,246). Parmi 5,307 lemmes en « D », « destruction » est au #3,248. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 17 spelling variants around destruction (IPA \dɛs.tʁyk.sjɔ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,248 among 5,307 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for destruction, with forms such as "ddestruction", "desrtuction", and "desstruction". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "distraction", "destructions", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is destruction, spelled D-E-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Action de détruire, au propre et au figuré.
  2. 2
    Ce qui subsiste des objets après leur destruction partielle ou totale, par opposition à construction. (généralement employé au pluriel)

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Par contre, en solution à 1 p. 100, l’arsénite de soude exerce des actions énergiques comme herbicide, herbifuge et insecticide. A la dose de 1/2 p. 100, il a été utilisé pour la destruction des criquets.
  2. On la dévasta, comme, au siècle précédent, on avait bombardé d’immenses agglomérations barbares, et parce qu’elle était à la fois trop forte pour être occupée par le vainqueur et trop indisciplinée, trop orgueilleuse pour se rendre dans le but d’échapper à la destruction.

Synonyms

annihilationdémolitiondésolationdévastationéradicationextinctionholocausteravageruinesubversion

This word in other languages

destruction(English)destrucción(Español)Vernichtung(Deutsch)destruição(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddestruction
  • desrtuction
  • desstruction
  • destrcution
  • destrruction
  • destrucction
  • destruciton
  • destructino
  • destructionn
  • destructoin
  • destructtion
  • destrutcion
  • desttruction
  • desturction
  • detsruction
  • dsetruction
  • edstruction

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ddestruction1desrtuction2desstruction1destrcution2destrruction1destrucction1destruciton2destructino2
Edit distance from "destruction"

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 "destruction"?
"destruction" is spelled D-E-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \dɛs.tʁyk.sjɔ̃\.
What does "destruction" mean?
As a noun, "destruction" means: Action de détruire, au propre et au figuré.
What words are commonly confused with "destruction"?
"destruction" is commonly confused with "distraction", "destructions". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "destruction"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "destruction" is \dɛs.tʁyk.sjɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "destruction" come from?
"destruction" 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 "destruction", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

immigration#3,266indépendant#3,204différences#3,325déplacement#3,329

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (17 here; floor ≥5).

restauration17 variantsintégration17 variantsperspective17 variantsamélioration17 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list