faible

\fɛbl\

/\fɛbl\/ adj

The verdict

“faible” has 7 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #1,028. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,028
frequency rank, French
3,276
“F” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui est débile, qui manque de force, de vigueur.

Corpus desk

Index FR-faible · faible · French

faible · rank #1,028 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,028
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,276
  • PHOTO-FINISH espèce

Nearest frequency peer: espèce (-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 « faible »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « faible » 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).

faible vs file
67% similar
faible vs fail
67% similar
faible vs faire
67% similar

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

Key facts for faible
PropertyValue
Headwordfaible
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\fɛbl\
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,028
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « faible »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).faiblese place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « espèce » (#1,027), « importante » (#1,029), « erreur » (#1,026). Parmi 3,276 lemmes en « F », « faible » est au #1,028. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around faible (IPA \fɛbl\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #1,028 among 3,276 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for faible, with forms such as "afible", "fabile", and "faibble". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "file", "fail", "faire", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, 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 faible, spelled F-A-I-B-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui est débile, qui manque de force, de vigueur.
  2. 2
    Qui est débile, qui manque de force, de vigueur.
  3. 3
    Qui manque de force morale, qui est trop indulgent, trop facile, sans fermeté.
  4. 4
    Qui manque de puissance, de ressources, etc.
  5. 5
    Qui n’a pas assez de grosseur, d’épaisseur, de force, de solidité, etc., en parlant des choses.
  6. 6
    Qui est peu fortifié.
  7. 7
    Qui est peu considérable en son genre sous le rapport de la quantité, de l’étendue, de la valeur, de l’intensité, de l’énergie, etc.
  8. 8
    Il s’emploie souvent avec les prépositions de ou en suivies d’un nom qui caractérise le genre de faiblesse.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Comme je paraissais faible et que je boitais un peu, ma mère avait voulu me faire apprendre un métier plus doux que ceux de notre village ; […].
  2. Cet orateur a paru faible dans la dernière discussion.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • afible
  • fabile
  • faibble
  • faibel
  • faiblle
  • failbe
  • ffaible

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

afible2fabile2faibble1faibel2faiblle1failbe2ffaible1
Edit distance from "faible"

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 "faible"?
"faible" is spelled F-A-I-B-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \fɛbl\.
What does "faible" mean?
As an adjective, "faible" means: Qui est débile, qui manque de force, de vigueur.
What words are commonly confused with "faible"?
"faible" is commonly confused with "file", "fail", "faire". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "faible"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "faible" is \fɛbl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "faible" come from?
"faible" 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 "faible", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list