étouffer

/\e.tu.fe\/ verb

Letters

8 characters

Frequency Rank

#11,331

in French word usage

Misspellings

10

tracked variants

Confusables

5

similar word pairs

étouffer is aFrenchverb. It means: Faire mourir en arrêtant la respiration. Pronounced \e.tu.fe\. Often confused with étoffe and étouffe.

Key facts for étouffer
PropertyValue
Headwordétouffer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\e.tu.fe\
Letters8
Frequency rank#11,331
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of étouffer in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for étouffer is 8 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \e.tu.fe\. Corpus data places it at rank #11,331 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 10 documented wrong-spelling variants for étouffer, with forms such as "etouffer", "téouffer", and "éotuffer". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "étoffe", "étouffe", "étoffer", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is étouffer, spelled É-T-O-U-F-F-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Faire mourir en arrêtant la respiration.
  2. 2
    Suffoquer, empêcher de respirer librement.
  3. 3
    Avoir la respiration empêchée ou mourir faute d’air.
  4. 4
    Dérober aux plantes l’air ou les nutriments nécessaires à leur végétation.
  5. 5
    Éteindre en interceptant l’air.
  6. 6
    Supprimer ; annihiler ; empêcher de se développer ; cacher ; surmonter.
  7. 7
    Amortir le son.
  8. 8
    Empêcher l’apparition publique.
  9. 9
    Escamoter, faire disparaître.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: etouffer,téouffer,éotuffer,étofufer,étoufefr,étoufer,étoufferr,étouffre,éttouffer,étuoffer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for étouffer

Misspelling Variants of "étouffer"

etouffer8téouffer8éotuffer8étofufer8étoufefr8étoufer7étoufferr9étouffre8
Misspelling Variants of "étouffer"

Frequency rank: #11,331 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "étouffer"?
"étouffer" is spelled É-T-O-U-F-F-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \e.tu.fe\.
What does "étouffer" mean?
As a verb, "étouffer" means: Faire mourir en arrêtant la respiration.
What words are commonly confused with "étouffer"?
"étouffer" is commonly confused with "étoffe", "étouffe", "étoffer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "étouffer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "étouffer" is \e.tu.fe\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "étouffer" come from?
"étouffer" 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.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter É in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.