néfaste

\ne.fast\

/\ne.fast\/ adj

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

The verdict

“néfaste” has 11 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #17,497. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#17,497
frequency rank, French
1,563
“N” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui est fatal, funeste, qui est une cause de deuil, de tristesse.

Corpus desk

Index FR-nefaste · néfaste · French

néfaste · rank #17,497 · 11 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #17,497
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,563
  • PHOTO-FINISH nouilles

Nearest frequency peer: nouilles (-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 « néfaste »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « néfaste » 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).

néfaste vs néfastes
88% similar

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

Key facts for néfaste
PropertyValue
Headwordnéfaste
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ne.fast\
Letters7
Frequency rank#17,497
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « néfaste »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.néfastese 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 « nouilles » (#17,496), « oppositions » (#17,498), « nomenclature » (#17,495). Parmi 1,563 lemmes en « N », « néfaste » est au #17,497. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around néfaste (IPA \ne.fast\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #17,497 among 1,563 “N” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for néfaste, with forms such as "nefaste", "nféaste", and "nnéfaste". 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, "néfastes", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is néfaste, spelled N-É-F-A-S-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui est fatal, funeste, qui est une cause de deuil, de tristesse.
  2. 2
    Il se disait, chez les Romains, des jours où il était défendu par la religion de vaquer aux affaires publiques, des jours de deuil et de tristesse destinés à l’inaction et regardés comme funestes, en mémoire de quelque disgrâce éclatante du peuple romain; → voir fastes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Cependant, réalisée dans de mauvaises conditions, la combustion du bois émet des polluants néfastes pour la santé, tels que furanes, benzènes, dioxines, composés organiques volatils (COV)… ainsi que des particules fines nocives.
  2. L’anniversaire de la journée d’Allia et celui de la défaite de Cannes étaient des jours néfastes.

Synonyms

préjudiciable

This word in other languages

nefarious(English)nefasto(Español)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • nefaste
  • nféaste
  • nnéfaste
  • néafste
  • néfaset
  • néfasste
  • néfastte
  • néfatse
  • néffaste
  • néfsate
  • énfaste

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

nefaste1nféaste2nnéfaste1néafste2néfaset2néfasste1néfastte1néfatse2
Edit distance from "néfaste"

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 "néfaste"?
"néfaste" is spelled N-É-F-A-S-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ne.fast\.
What does "néfaste" mean?
As an adjective, "néfaste" means: Qui est fatal, funeste, qui est une cause de deuil, de tristesse.
What words are commonly confused with "néfaste"?
"néfaste" is commonly confused with "néfastes". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "néfaste"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "néfaste" is \ne.fast\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "néfaste" come from?
"néfaste" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "néfaste", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

osseuse#17,502minéral#17,481maigres#17,476luttent#17,471

Similar misspelling depth

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

mouchoir11 variantspelletier11 variantspellicule11 variantsKremlin11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list