douloureux

\du.lu.ʁø\

/\du.lu.ʁø\/ adj

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

The verdict

“douloureux” has 13 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #7,051. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,051
frequency rank, French
5,307
“D” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui cause de la douleur ou qui marque de la douleur.

Corpus desk

Index FR-douloureux · douloureux · French

douloureux · rank #7,051 · 13 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,051
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,307
  • PHOTO-FINISH devise

Nearest frequency peer: devise (-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 « douloureux »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « douloureux » 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).

douloureux vs douloureuse
82% similar

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

Key facts for douloureux
PropertyValue
Headworddouloureux
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\du.lu.ʁø\
Letters10
Frequency rank#7,051
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « douloureux »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.douloureuxse 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 « devise » (#7,050), « dérive » (#7,052), « datant » (#7,049). Parmi 5,307 lemmes en « D », « douloureux » est au #7,051. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around douloureux (IPA \du.lu.ʁø\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #7,051 among 5,307 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for douloureux, with forms such as "ddouloureux", "doluoureux", and "doulloureux". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "douloureuse", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is douloureux, spelled D-O-U-L-O-U-R-E-U-X.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui cause de la douleur ou qui marque de la douleur.
  2. 2
    Qualifie les parties du corps, lorsqu’elles deviennent tellement sensibles qu’on n’y saurait toucher sans causer de la douleur.
  3. 3
    Qui cause de la peine, du chagrin, de l’affliction.
  4. 4
    Qui exprime sa douleur, peiné, chagrin, affligé.
  5. 5
    Qui ressent de la douleur.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ainsi, vous croyez, n'est-ce pas, sur le rapport de M. Guillotin, que sa machine est le moyen le plus sûr, le plus rapide et le moins douloureux de terminer la vie?
  2. […]; d'abord pisiformes, durs et peu sensibles, ces boutons grossissent, s’abcèdent, deviennent douloureux et fluctuants.

Synonyms

algique

This word in other languages

painful(English)schmerzvoll(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddouloureux
  • doluoureux
  • doulloureux
  • doulorueux
  • doulouerux
  • douloureuxx
  • doulourexu
  • doulourreux
  • doulouruex
  • douluoreux
  • douolureux
  • duoloureux
  • oduloureux

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of douloureux - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ddouloureux1doluoureux2doulloureux1doulorueux2doulouerux2douloureuxx1doulourexu2doulourreux1
Edit distance from "douloureux"

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 "douloureux"?
"douloureux" is spelled D-O-U-L-O-U-R-E-U-X. The IPA pronunciation is \du.lu.ʁø\.
What does "douloureux" mean?
As an adjective, "douloureux" means: Qui cause de la douleur ou qui marque de la douleur.
What words are commonly confused with "douloureux"?
"douloureux" is commonly confused with "douloureuse". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "douloureux"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "douloureux" is \du.lu.ʁø\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "douloureux" come from?
"douloureux" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "douloureux", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

concession#7,039imposition#7,070infraction#7,073annulation#7,026

Similar misspelling depth

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

consulté13 variantsarbitrage13 variantsvêtement13 variantspalmarès13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list