flatter

/\fla.te\/ verb

Letters

7 characters

Frequency Rank

#25,316

in French word usage

Misspellings

9

tracked variants

Confusables

14

similar word pairs

flatter is aFrenchverb. It means: Louer excessivement dans le dessein de plaire, de séduire, d’exploiter. Pronounced \fla.te\. Often confused with flotte and frotter.

Key facts for flatter
PropertyValue
Headwordflatter
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\fla.te\
Letters7
Frequency rank#25,316
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for flatter is 7 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \fla.te\. Corpus data places it at rank #25,316 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for flatter, with forms such as "faltter", "fflatter", and "flater". 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 14 confusable-pair relationships, "flotte", "frotter", "flotter", 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 flatter, spelled F-L-A-T-T-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Louer excessivement dans le dessein de plaire, de séduire, d’exploiter.
  2. 2
    Complaire aux passions, aux caprices, aux goûts de quelqu’un, leur donner son approbation, des louanges.
  3. 3
    Dépeindre, représenter une personne ou quelque chose plus belle qu’elle ne l’est.
  4. 4
    Caresser.
  5. 5
    Entrer dans les vues, partager les sentiments de quelqu’un.
  6. 6
    Causer un vif plaisir, une grande satisfaction.
  7. 7
    Avoir ou vouloir donner une trop haute idée de soi-même, de son habileté, de ses ressources, etc.
  8. 8
    S’entretenir dans l’espérance, s’amuser de l’espérance de quelque chose, prétendre, espérer à tort ou à raison.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: faltter,fflatter,flater,flatetr,flatterr,flattre,fllatter,fltater,lfatter

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for flatter

Misspelling Variants of "flatter"

faltter7fflatter8flater6flatetr7flatterr8flattre7fllatter8fltater7
Misspelling Variants of "flatter"

Frequency rank: #25,316 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "flatter"?
"flatter" is spelled F-L-A-T-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \fla.te\.
What does "flatter" mean?
As a verb, "flatter" means: Louer excessivement dans le dessein de plaire, de séduire, d’exploiter.
What words are commonly confused with "flatter"?
"flatter" is commonly confused with "flotte", "frotter", "flotter". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "flatter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "flatter" is \fla.te\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "flatter" come from?
"flatter" 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 F 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.