frivole

\fʁi.vɔl\

/\fʁi.vɔl\/ adj

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

The verdict

“frivole” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #41,299. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#41,299
frequency rank, French
3,276
“F” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui est vain, futile ; qui n’a nulle importance.

Corpus desk

Index FR-frivole · frivole · French

frivole · rank #41,299 · 10 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #41,299
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,276
  • PHOTO-FINISH Fuchs

Nearest frequency peer: Fuchs (+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 « frivole »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « frivole » 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).

frivole vs frôle
57% similar
frivole vs fiole
71% similar
frivole vs friable
71% similar

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

Key facts for frivole
PropertyValue
Headwordfrivole
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\fʁi.vɔl\
Letters7
Frequency rank#41,299
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « frivole »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).frivolese 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 « Fuchs » (#41,300), « fragilise » (#41,297), « fumiers » (#41,301). Parmi 3,276 lemmes en « F », « frivole » est au #41,299. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around frivole (IPA \fʁi.vɔl\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #41,299 among 3,276 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for frivole, with forms such as "ffrivole", "firvole", and "friovle". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "frôle", "fiole", "friable", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is frivole, spelled F-R-I-V-O-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui est vain, futile ; qui n’a nulle importance.
  2. 2
    Qui s’occupe de choses frivoles.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Et vous, si vous voulez suivre mon conseil, vous abandonnerez cette chasse frivole pour lâcher votre faucon sur une autre proie.
  2. Quelque frivoles qu’elles fussent, ces craintes prévalurent en haut lieu.

Antonyms

sérieux

This word in other languages

frivolous(English)frívolo(Español)frivol(Deutsch)frívolo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ffrivole
  • firvole
  • friovle
  • frivloe
  • frivoel
  • frivolle
  • frivvole
  • frrivole
  • frviole
  • rfivole

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ffrivole1firvole2friovle2frivloe2frivoel2frivolle1frivvole1frrivole1
Edit distance from "frivole"

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 "frivole"?
"frivole" is spelled F-R-I-V-O-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \fʁi.vɔl\.
What does "frivole" mean?
As an adjective, "frivole" means: Qui est vain, futile ; qui n’a nulle importance.
What words are commonly confused with "frivole"?
"frivole" is commonly confused with "frôle", "fiole", "friable". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "frivole"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "frivole" is \fʁi.vɔl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "frivole" come from?
"frivole" 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 "frivole", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fumiers#41,301Flavien#41,291filante#41,290girafes#41,309

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

garrison10 variantsgirofle10 variantsestimes10 variantsempiler10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list