fearful

adj

The verdict

“fearful” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Peureux.

Corpus desk

Index FR-fearful · fearful · French

fearful · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "F" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for fearful
PropertyValue
Headwordfearful
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « fearful » en français

fearfulsiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

fearful is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for fearful, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is fearful, spelled F-E-A-R-F-U-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Peureux.
  2. 2
    Effrayant, épouvantable.
  3. 3
    Redoutable.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He's always so fearful!
  2. What a fearful monster!

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fearful"?
"fearful" is spelled F-E-A-R-F-U-L.
What does "fearful" mean?
As an adjective, "fearful" means: Peureux.
What language does "fearful" come from?
"fearful" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list