incessant

\ɛ̃.se.sɑ̃\

/\ɛ̃.se.sɑ̃\/ adj

The verdict

“incessant” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #31,072 in French word frequency and used as an adjective.

#31,072
frequency rank, French
9
letters
12
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Qui ne cesse pas ; qui dure sans interruption ; qui est continu.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

incessant vs incessants
90% similar
incessant vs incessante
90% similar
incessant vs incessantes
82% similar

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

Key facts for incessant
PropertyValue
Headwordincessant
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ɛ̃.se.sɑ̃\
Letters9
Frequency rank#31,072
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “incessant” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). incessant lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for incessant is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɛ̃.se.sɑ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #31,072 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Qui ne cesse pas ; qui dure sans interruption ; qui est continu.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for incessant, with forms such as "icnessant", "inccessant", and "incesant". 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, "incessants", "incessante", "incessantes", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is incessant, spelled I-N-C-E-S-S-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui ne cesse pas ; qui dure sans interruption ; qui est continu.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: icnessant,inccessant,incesant,incesasnt,incessannt,incessantt,incessatn,incessnat,incsesant,inecssant,inncessant,nicessant

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of incessant - 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.

icnessant2inccessant1incesant1incesasnt2incessannt1incessantt1incessatn2incessnat2
Edit distance from "incessant"

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 "incessant"?
"incessant" is spelled I-N-C-E-S-S-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is \ɛ̃.se.sɑ̃\.
What does "incessant" mean?
As an adjective, "incessant" means: Qui ne cesse pas ; qui dure sans interruption ; qui est continu.
What words are commonly confused with "incessant"?
"incessant" is commonly confused with "incessants", "incessante", "incessantes". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "incessant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "incessant" is \ɛ̃.se.sɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "incessant" come from?
"incessant" 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.

Using “incessant”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is I-N-C-E-S-S-A-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ɛ̃.se.sɑ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “incessants” - see the side-by-side comparison. incessant vs incessants
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list