kidnapper

\kid.na.pe\

/\kid.na.pe\/ verb

The verdict

“kidnapper” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #29,836. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#29,836
frequency rank, French
737
“K” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Enlever une personne en vue de demander une rançon.

Corpus desk

Index FR-kidnapper · kidnapper · French

kidnapper · rank #29,836 · 12 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #29,836
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 737
  • PHOTO-FINISH karting

Nearest frequency peer: karting (-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 « kidnapper »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « kidnapper » 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).

kidnapper vs kidnappée
78% similar

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

Key facts for kidnapper
PropertyValue
Headwordkidnapper
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\kid.na.pe\
Letters9
Frequency rank#29,836
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « kidnapper »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.kidnapperse place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « karting » (#29,835), « Kind » (#29,837), « Joconde » (#29,834). Parmi 737 lemmes en « K », « kidnapper » est au #29,836. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around kidnapper (IPA \kid.na.pe\), averb. Corpus frequency is #29,836 among 737 “K” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for kidnapper, with forms such as "ikdnapper", "kdinapper", and "kidanpper". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "kidnappée", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology 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 kidnapper, spelled K-I-D-N-A-P-P-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Enlever une personne en vue de demander une rançon.
  2. 2
    Soustraire ; subtiliser.
  3. 3
    Récupérer, détourner de ses intentions premières contre son gré ou à son insu.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. On se propose de kidnapper le gestapiste, de le jeter dans la malle arrière de sa voiture et de sortir rapidement de la ville, afin d'éviter des représailles sur Megève.
  2. Eric Pliquet n’a plus revu son fils Adrian depuis le 28 novembre 2010. Ce jour-là, la mère de l’enfant, une Franco-Polonaise, a kidnappé le garçon. Kristina vivrait désormais en Pologne à une adresse inconnue, rapporte « Le Parisien ».

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ikdnapper
  • kdinapper
  • kidanpper
  • kiddnapper
  • kidnapepr
  • kidnaper
  • kidnapperr
  • kidnappre
  • kidnnapper
  • kidnpaper
  • kindapper
  • kkidnapper

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ikdnapper2kdinapper2kidanpper2kiddnapper1kidnapepr2kidnaper1kidnapperr1kidnappre2
Edit distance from "kidnapper"

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 "kidnapper"?
"kidnapper" is spelled K-I-D-N-A-P-P-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \kid.na.pe\.
What does "kidnapper" mean?
As a verb, "kidnapper" means: Enlever une personne en vue de demander une rançon.
What words are commonly confused with "kidnapper"?
"kidnapper" is commonly confused with "kidnappée". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "kidnapper"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "kidnapper" is \kid.na.pe\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "kidnapper" come from?
"kidnapper" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "kidnapper", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list