dire

\diʁ\

/\diʁ\/ verb

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

The verdict

“dire” has 5 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #101. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#101
frequency rank, French
5,307
“D” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Exprimer par la parole.

Corpus desk

Index FR-dire · dire · French

dire · rank #101 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #101
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,307
  • PHOTO-FINISH rien

Nearest frequency peer: rien (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “dire”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “dire” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

dire vs dr
50% similar
dire vs dix
50% similar
dire vs dur
50% similar

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

Key facts for dire
PropertyValue
Headworddire
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\diʁ\
Letters4
Frequency rank#101
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “dire” se place dans la fréquence du français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.direse 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 « rien » (#100), « monde » (#102), « 2 » (#99). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around dire (IPA \diʁ\), averb. Corpus frequency is #101 among 5,307 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for dire, with forms such as "ddire", "dier", and "dirre". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "dr", "dix", "dur", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is dire, spelled D-I-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Exprimer par la parole.
  2. 2
    Ordonner, conseiller.
  3. 3
    Énoncer par écrit.
  4. 4
    S’emploie souvent dans le sens de répondre à une objection.
  5. 5
    Célébrer, chanter, raconter.
  6. 6
    Débiter ; réciter.
  7. 7
    Juger ; croire ; penser.
  8. 8
    Dénoter, signifier, indiquer, marquer.
  9. 9
    S’emploie en parlant des actions, des gestes, des regards, etc., qui manifestent la pensée de quelqu’un.
  10. 10
    Dénoncer.
  11. 11
    Exprimer ce que l'on pense, ce que l'on ressent, ce que l'on voit.
  12. 12
    Déclamer en public des vers, une tirade, une scène de tragédie.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. — Parfaitement... et il a dit à ces dames que c'était un étranger, arrivé récemment à Paris et colossalement riche.
  2. Bien qu’il n’eût pu comprendre un seul mot de ce qui avait été dit, Bert éprouva un choc en remarquant le ton qu’avait pris l’homme.

This word in other languages

say(English)decir(Español)sagen(Deutsch)proferir(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddire
  • dier
  • dirre
  • drie
  • idre

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ddire1dier2dirre1drie2idre2
Edit distance from "dire"

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 "dire"?
"dire" is spelled D-I-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \diʁ\.
What does "dire" mean?
As a verb, "dire" means: Exprimer par la parole.
What words are commonly confused with "dire"?
"dire" is commonly confused with "dr", "dix", "dur". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "dire"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dire" is \diʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "dire" come from?
"dire" 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 "dire", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

rien#100fois#104faut#105voir#107

Similar misspelling depth

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

sous5 variantstous5 variantssoit5 variantssuis5 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "dire". Here's where to go from here.

  • "dire" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "dr". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #101 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "D" letter cohort. D–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list