étouffant

\e.tu.fɑ̃\

/\e.tu.fɑ̃\/ adj

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

The verdict

“étouffant” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #33,948. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#33,948
frequency rank, French
1,805
“É” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui fait que l’on étouffe.

Corpus desk

Index FR-etouffant · étouffant · French

étouffant · rank #33,948 · 12 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #33,948
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,805
  • PHOTO-FINISH éthiopien

Nearest frequency peer: éthiopien (-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 « étouffant »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « étouffant » 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).

étouffant vs étouffent
89% similar
étouffant vs étouffante
90% similar

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

Key facts for étouffant
PropertyValue
Headwordétouffant
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\e.tu.fɑ̃\
Letters9
Frequency rank#33,948
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « étouffant »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).étouffantse 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 « éthiopien » (#33,947), « étudia » (#33,949), « éteignent » (#33,946). Parmi 1,805 lemmes en « É », « étouffant » est au #33,948. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around étouffant (IPA \e.tu.fɑ̃\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #33,948 among 1,805 “É” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for étouffant, with forms such as "etouffant", "téouffant", and "éotuffant". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "étouffent", "étouffante", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is étouffant, spelled É-T-O-U-F-F-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui fait que l’on étouffe.
  2. 2
    Qualifie une culture qui gêne le développement des adventices.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Mais, pour les hommes, je n’ai pas détourné les yeux. Car c’est toi qui m’as donné à boire un jour d’été que l’air était étouffant.
  2. Après huit heures de marche en terrain souvent difficile, par un sirocco étouffant et une température qui doit dépasser 60° au soleil, nous atteignons Ras El-Ma, la source de l’oued Fez, à douze kilomètres de la capitale.

This word in other languages

oppressive(English)oprimido(Español)erstickend(Deutsch)abafado(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • etouffant
  • téouffant
  • éotuffant
  • étofufant
  • étoufafnt
  • étoufant
  • étouffannt
  • étouffantt
  • étouffatn
  • étouffnat
  • éttouffant
  • étuoffant

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

etouffant1téouffant2éotuffant2étofufant2étoufafnt2étoufant1étouffannt1étouffantt1
Edit distance from "étouffant"

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 "étouffant"?
"étouffant" is spelled É-T-O-U-F-F-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is \e.tu.fɑ̃\.
What does "étouffant" mean?
As an adjective, "étouffant" means: Qui fait que l’on étouffe.
What words are commonly confused with "étouffant"?
"étouffant" is commonly confused with "étouffent", "étouffante". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "étouffant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "étouffant" is \e.tu.fɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "étouffant" come from?
"étouffant" 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 "étouffant", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

éthiopien#33,947éteignent#33,946éviterait#33,951éclairent#33,943

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

épitaphe12 variantsaggravant12 variantsArtagnan12 variantscabarets12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list