idée
\i.de\
The verdict
“idée” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #354 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #354
- frequency rank, French
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Suggestion.
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 | idée |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \i.de\ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #354 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “idée” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for idée is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \i.de\. Corpus data places it at rank #354 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 17 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for idée, with forms such as "diée", "iddée", and "idee". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ie", "ile", "ive", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, 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 idée, spelled I-D-É-E.
Definition
- 1Suggestion.
- 2Possibilité.
- 3Façon de faire, plus ou moins originale, qu’un individu ou un groupe d’individus imagine dans le domaine de la connaissance, de l’action ou de la création artistique.
- 4Solution nouvelle et adaptée au problème de l’interlocuteur (quelque chose qui résout son problème de façon inattendue, quelque chose d’efficace à quoi il n’avait pas pensé ou qu'il n’avait pas envisagé).
- 5Représentation d’un être ou d’une chose dans l’esprit ; notion que l’esprit reçoit ou se forme de quelque chose.
- 6Archétype, modèle éternel et absolu de toutes les choses créées.
- 7Pensée ; conception de l’esprit ; opinion ; réflexion, etc.
- 8Disposition d’esprit, direction de pensée et de sentiment, particuliers à un peuple, à une classe.
- 9Système de pensée.
- 10Forme immuable d’une réalité perçue par la raison, essence intelligible et éternelle des choses sensibles.
- 11Préoccupation d’un caractère morbide.
- 12Souvenir.
- 13Invention, en parlant d’une production des arts.
- 14Esquisse, ébauche rapide d’un ouvrage.
- 15Ouvrage trop peu achevé.
- 16Les visions chimériques, les choses qui ne sauraient avoir lieu, qui ne peuvent se réaliser.
- 17Pensée, esprit, imagination.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: diée,iddée,idee,ideé,iéde
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of idée - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “idée”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is I-D-É-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \i.de\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ie” - see the side-by-side comparison. idée vs ie
- 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.