empêcher
\ɑ̃.pe.ʃe\
The verdict
“empêcher” has 13 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #1,591. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,591
- frequency rank, French
- 201,161
- “E” headwords
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Entraver quelqu’un dans la réalisation de quelque chose.
Corpus desk
Index FR-empecher · empêcher · French
empêcher · rank #1,591 · 13 variants · 7 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,591
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 13 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 201,161
- PHOTO-FINISH découvert
Nearest frequency peer: découvert (-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 “empêcher”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- disant
disant
98,413 corpus weight
- don
don
98,412 corpus weight
- découvert
découvert
98,411 corpus weight
- empêcher
empêcher
98,410 corpus weight
- entretien
entretien
98,409 corpus weight
- furent
furent
98,408 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “empêcher” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | empêcher |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \ɑ̃.pe.ʃe\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #1,591 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “empêcher” sits in French frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 13 spelling variants around empêcher (IPA \ɑ̃.pe.ʃe\), averb. Corpus frequency is #1,591 among 201,161 “E” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for empêcher, with forms such as "emmpêcher", "empcêher", and "empecher". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "empoche", "empocher", "empêchera", 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, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is empêcher, spelled E-M-P-Ê-C-H-E-R.
Definition
- 1Entraver quelqu’un dans la réalisation de quelque chose.
- 2Rendre impossible, irréalisable ; s’opposer à ; faire obstacle.
- 3Gêner ou arrêter par un obstacle.
- 4Embarrasser ; empêtrer.
- 5Se défendre de ; s’abstenir de.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- emmpêcher
- empcêher
- empecher
- emppêcher
- empêccher
- empêcehr
- empêcherr
- empêchher
- empêchre
- empêhcer
- emêpcher
- epmêcher
- mepêcher
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of empêcher - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "empêcher"?
What does "empêcher" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "empêcher"?
How do you pronounce "empêcher"?
What language does "empêcher" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "empêcher", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).
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.