hébéter

\e.be.te\

/\e.be.te\/ verb

The verdict

“hébéter” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. 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) - Rendre stupide.

Corpus desk

Index FR-hebeter · hébéter · French

hébéter · 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 "H" 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 hébéter
PropertyValue
Headwordhébéter
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\e.be.te\
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « hébéter » en français

hébétersiège 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

hébéter is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \e.be.te\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Rendre stupide.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for hébéter, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No borrowing history is documented 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 hébéter, spelled H-É-B-É-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Rendre stupide.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Déjà néanmoins les fleurs avaient été froissées, les yeux s’hébétaient, et l’ivresse gagnait, selon l’expression de Rabelais, jusqu’aux sandales.
  2. « Voilà sans doute la lie de la France, pensait Lucien ; cela est bête et vendu. Mais du moins cela n’a pas peur et ne regrette pas le passé, et ils n’hébètent pas leurs enfants en les réduisant pour toute lecture à la Journée du Chrétien.

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 "hébéter"?
"hébéter" is spelled H-É-B-É-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \e.be.te\.
What does "hébéter" mean?
As a verb, "hébéter" means: Rendre stupide.
How do you pronounce "hébéter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hébéter" is \e.be.te\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "hébéter" come from?
"hébéter" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list