malfaisance

\mal.fə.zɑ̃s\

/\mal.fə.zɑ̃s\/ noun

The verdict

“malfaisance” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Disposition à faire du mal à autrui, en parlant des personnes et des choses.

Corpus desk

Index FR-malfaisance · malfaisance · French

malfaisance · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "M" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for malfaisance
PropertyValue
Headwordmalfaisance
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\mal.fə.zɑ̃s\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « malfaisance » en français

malfaisancen'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

malfaisance is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \mal.fə.zɑ̃s\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Disposition à faire du mal à autrui, en parlant des personnes et des choses.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for malfaisance, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

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 malfaisance, spelled M-A-L-F-A-I-S-A-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Disposition à faire du mal à autrui, en parlant des personnes et des choses.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Il a donné des preuves de malfaisance.
  2. La malfaisance d’un air vicié, d’un produit avarié.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "malfaisance"?
"malfaisance" is spelled M-A-L-F-A-I-S-A-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \mal.fə.zɑ̃s\.
What does "malfaisance" mean?
As a noun, "malfaisance" means: Disposition à faire du mal à autrui, en parlant des personnes et des choses.
How do you pronounce "malfaisance"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "malfaisance" is \mal.fə.zɑ̃s\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "malfaisance" come from?
"malfaisance" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list