mordant

\mɔʁ.dɑ̃\

/\mɔʁ.dɑ̃\/ adj

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

The verdict

“mordant” has 11 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #23,944. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,944
frequency rank, French
5,038
“M” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
14
confusable pairs

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

Corpus desk

Index FR-mordant · mordant · French

mordant · rank #23,944 · 11 variants · 14 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #23,944
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 14 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,038
  • PHOTO-FINISH montez

Nearest frequency peer: montez (-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 « mordant »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « mordant » 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).

mordant vs Morgan
57% similar
mordant vs Morvan
57% similar
mordant vs mourant
71% similar

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

Key facts for mordant
PropertyValue
Headwordmordant
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\mɔʁ.dɑ̃\
Letters7
Frequency rank#23,944
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « mordant »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).mordantse 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 « montez » (#23,943), « morne » (#23,945), « Monnet » (#23,942). Parmi 5,038 lemmes en « M », « mordant » est au #23,944. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around mordant (IPA \mɔʁ.dɑ̃\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #23,944 among 5,038 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for mordant, with forms such as "mmordant", "modrant", and "moradnt". 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 14 confusable-pair relationships, "Morgan", "Morvan", "mourant", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is mordant, spelled M-O-R-D-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui mord.
  2. 2
    Qualifie certaines bêtes carnivores, comme le blaireau, le renard, l’ours, le loup, la loutre, etc.
  3. 3
    Qui a une qualité corrosive.
  4. 4
    Qui provoque une sensation vive.
  5. 5
    Qui censure ou critique avec acrimonie, voire malignité.
  6. 6
    Énergie, moyens, outils pour l'accomplissement d'un but.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Depuis ce moment, je n’ai point passé une heure […] sans que le souvenir atroce, cuisant, ce souvenir qui ronge […] ne remuât en moi comme une bête mordante enfermée au fond de mon âme.
  2. Un acide mordant.

This word in other languages

biting(English)agudo(Español)grell(Deutsch)acre(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • mmordant
  • modrant
  • moradnt
  • mordannt
  • mordantt
  • mordatn
  • morddant
  • mordnat
  • morrdant
  • mrodant
  • omrdant

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

mmordant1modrant2moradnt2mordannt1mordantt1mordatn2morddant1mordnat2
Edit distance from "mordant"

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 "mordant"?
"mordant" is spelled M-O-R-D-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is \mɔʁ.dɑ̃\.
What does "mordant" mean?
As an adjective, "mordant" means: Qui mord.
What words are commonly confused with "mordant"?
"mordant" is commonly confused with "Morgan", "Morvan", "mourant". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mordant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mordant" is \mɔʁ.dɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mordant" come from?
"mordant" 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 "mordant", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

maliens#23,930maillon#23,928nuageux#23,963libérez#23,923

Similar misspelling depth

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

lassitude11 variantspingouin11 variantsProblem11 variantsimmaculée11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list