malentendu

\ma.lɑ̃.tɑ̃.dy\

/\ma.lɑ̃.tɑ̃.dy\/ noun

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

The verdict

“malentendu” has 15 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #16,176. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,176
frequency rank, French
5,038
“M” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Paroles ou actions prises dans un autre sens que celui où elles ont été dites ou faites.

Corpus desk

Index FR-malentendu · malentendu · French

malentendu · rank #16,176 · 15 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #16,176
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,038
  • PHOTO-FINISH maintiennent

Nearest frequency peer: maintiennent (-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 « malentendu »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « malentendu » 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).

malentendu vs malentendus
91% similar

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

Key facts for malentendu
PropertyValue
Headwordmalentendu
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ma.lɑ̃.tɑ̃.dy\
Letters10
Frequency rank#16,176
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « malentendu »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).malentenduse 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 « maintiennent » (#16,175), « malien » (#16,177), « Maggie » (#16,174). Parmi 5,038 lemmes en « M », « malentendu » est au #16,176. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around malentendu (IPA \ma.lɑ̃.tɑ̃.dy\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #16,176 among 5,038 “M” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Paroles ou actions prises dans un autre sens que celui où elles ont été dites ou faites.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for malentendu, with forms such as "amlentendu", "maelntendu", and "malenetndu". 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, "malentendus", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is malentendu, spelled M-A-L-E-N-T-E-N-D-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Paroles ou actions prises dans un autre sens que celui où elles ont été dites ou faites.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Les fraises des bois et le petit verre de jaune ou de verte — au choix — qu'on vous verse au café, dissipent un peu ce léger malentendu.
  2. Un malentendu existe entre lui et les simples mortels. […]. Il arbore superbement un scepticisme, un snobisme de décadence qui leur reste inaccessible et fermé. Son ironie naturelle les gêne et les déconcerte. Il est ennuyé, blasé ; […].

This word in other languages

misunderstanding(English)malentendido(Español)Missverständnis(Deutsch)engano(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amlentendu
  • maelntendu
  • malenetndu
  • malenntendu
  • malentednu
  • malentenddu
  • malentenndu
  • malentenud
  • malentnedu
  • malenttendu
  • maletnendu
  • mallentendu
  • malnetendu
  • mlaentendu
  • mmalentendu

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

amlentendu2maelntendu2malenetndu2malenntendu1malentednu2malentenddu1malentenndu1malentenud2
Edit distance from "malentendu"

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 "malentendu"?
"malentendu" is spelled M-A-L-E-N-T-E-N-D-U. The IPA pronunciation is \ma.lɑ̃.tɑ̃.dy\.
What does "malentendu" mean?
As a noun, "malentendu" means: Paroles ou actions prises dans un autre sens que celui où elles ont été dites ou faites.
What words are commonly confused with "malentendu"?
"malentendu" is commonly confused with "malentendus". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "malentendu"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "malentendu" is \ma.lɑ̃.tɑ̃.dy\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "malentendu" come from?
"malentendu" 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 "malentendu", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

locomotive#16,172misérables#16,186inventions#16,161interpelle#16,158

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

intègrent15 variantsimpliquent15 variantsrestreinte15 variantsdérogation15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list