gendarme
\ʒɑ̃.daʁm\
The verdict
“gendarme” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #11,416 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,416
- frequency rank, French
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Militaire d’un corps de troupes spécialement chargé de maintenir la sécurité et la tranquillité publique.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gendarme |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ʒɑ̃.daʁm\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #11,416 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gendarme” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for gendarme is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʒɑ̃.daʁm\. Corpus data places it at rank #11,416 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 15 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for gendarme, with forms such as "egndarme", "gednarme", and "genadrme". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "gendre", "gendarmes", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No documented word history exists for this headword, 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 gendarme, spelled G-E-N-D-A-R-M-E.
Definition
- 1Militaire d’un corps de troupes spécialement chargé de maintenir la sécurité et la tranquillité publique.
- 2Grade donné à un sous-officier dans la gendarmerie nationale française, situé au-dessous du maréchal des logis-chef. Ce grade est situé entre ceux de sergent et de sergent-chef dans l’armée de terre française (article L4131-1 du Cde de la défense).
- 3Quelqu’un qui se donne des airs d’autorité, qui s’attribue la mission de faire régner l’ordre.
- 4Se dit d’une grande et forte femme qui a l’air impérieux.
- 5se dit surtout au pluriel, des bluettes qui sortent du feu et des parcelles de lie dans le vin.
- 6Nom de certains points qui se trouvent quelquefois dans les diamants et qui en diminuent l’éclat et le prix.
- 7Nom courant du pyrrhocore (Pyrrhocoris apterus), insecte dont les motifs sur le thorax rappellent un uniforme.
- 8Poisson nommé vairon ou gardèche.
- 9Hareng salé et fumé, vendu entier, fendu en deux. On dit aussi gendarme suisse.
- 10Saucisse généralement vendues par paire.
- 11Sorte de tire-bouchon à levier, nommé aussi de Gaulle. Une fois les leviers en position haute, cet objet ressemble à un gendarme qui vous intime l’ordre de vous arrêter, le décapsuleur faisant office de tête.
- 12Pièce métallique qui dans une charrue empêche les herbes de se prendre dans les jambettes.
- 13Tache dans l’œil.
- 14Moisissures qui apparaissent à la surface du vin.
- 15Monolithe rocheux situé sur une crête et semblant barrer le passage.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: egndarme,gednarme,genadrme,gendamre,gendarem,gendarmme,gendarrme,genddarme,gendrame,genndarme,ggendarme,gnedarme
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gendarme - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "gendarme"?
What does "gendarme" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "gendarme"?
How do you pronounce "gendarme"?
What language does "gendarme" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “gendarme”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is G-E-N-D-A-R-M-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ʒɑ̃.daʁm\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “gendre” - see the side-by-side comparison. gendarme vs gendre
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.