illustrer

\i.lys.tʁe\

/\i.lys.tʁe\/ verb

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

The verdict

“illustrer” has 11 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #9,333. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,333
frequency rank, French
3,561
“I” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Rendre illustre.

Corpus desk

Index FR-illustrer · illustrer · French

illustrer · rank #9,333 · 11 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,333
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,561
  • PHOTO-FINISH idéologique

Nearest frequency peer: idéologique (-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 « illustrer »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « illustrer » 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).

illustrer vs illustrés
78% similar
illustrer vs illustre
89% similar
illustrer vs illustrée
78% similar

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

Key facts for illustrer
PropertyValue
Headwordillustrer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\i.lys.tʁe\
Letters9
Frequency rank#9,333
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « illustrer »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).illustrerse 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 « idéologique » (#9,332), « impressions » (#9,334), « hybride » (#9,331). Parmi 3,561 lemmes en « I », « illustrer » est au #9,333. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around illustrer (IPA \i.lys.tʁe\), averb. Corpus frequency is #9,333 among 3,561 “I” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for illustrer, with forms such as "illsutrer", "illusrter", and "illusstrer". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "illustrés", "illustre", "illustrée", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is illustrer, spelled I-L-L-U-S-T-R-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Rendre illustre.
  2. 2
    Orner de gravures et de dessins un livre, un journal.
  3. 3
    Rendre une idée saisissante par un exemple.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. En effet, en dehors des tossafistes, qui illustrèrent le rabbinat français au XIIᵉ et XIIIᵉ siècle, la famille de Raschi a fourni au judaïsme maintes célébrités.
  2. La conquête facile de la Mandchourie et de la Corée constituait le point de départ de la grande aventure qui devait s'illustrer par l'effondrement des États-Unis d'Amérique.

This word in other languages

illustrious(English)ilustrar(Español)illustrieren(Deutsch)ilustrar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • illsutrer
  • illusrter
  • illusstrer
  • illusterr
  • illustrerr
  • illustrrer
  • illusttrer
  • illutsrer
  • ilulstrer
  • ilustrer
  • lilustrer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

illsutrer2illusrter2illusstrer1illusterr2illustrerr1illustrrer1illusttrer1illutsrer2
Edit distance from "illustrer"

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 "illustrer"?
"illustrer" is spelled I-L-L-U-S-T-R-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \i.lys.tʁe\.
What does "illustrer" mean?
As a verb, "illustrer" means: Rendre illustre.
What words are commonly confused with "illustrer"?
"illustrer" is commonly confused with "illustrés", "illustre", "illustrée". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "illustrer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "illustrer" is \i.lys.tʁe\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "illustrer" come from?
"illustrer" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "illustrer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Halloween#9,329gouverner#9,322gentiment#9,320mondiales#9,349

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

hybride11 variantshomicide11 variantsdonnerait11 variantsparadoxe11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list