obligatoire

\ɔ.bli.ɡa.twaʁ\

/\ɔ.bli.ɡa.twaʁ\/ adj

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

The verdict

“obligatoire” has 15 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #2,888. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,888
frequency rank, French
1,642
“O” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui a la force d’obliger suivant la loi.

Corpus desk

Index FR-obligatoire · obligatoire · French

obligatoire · rank #2,888 · 15 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,888
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,642
  • PHOTO-FINISH news

Nearest frequency peer: news (-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 « obligatoire »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « obligatoire » 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).

obligatoire vs obligatoires
92% similar
obligatoire vs obligataire
91% similar
obligatoire vs obligataires
83% similar

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

Key facts for obligatoire
PropertyValue
Headwordobligatoire
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ɔ.bli.ɡa.twaʁ\
Letters11
Frequency rank#2,888
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « obligatoire »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).obligatoirese 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 « news » (#2,887), « op » (#2,889), « Moscou » (#2,886). Parmi 1,642 lemmes en « O », « obligatoire » est au #2,888. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around obligatoire (IPA \ɔ.bli.ɡa.twaʁ\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #2,888 among 1,642 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for obligatoire, with forms such as "boligatoire", "obbligatoire", and "obilgatoire". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "obligatoires", "obligataire", "obligataires", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored 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 obligatoire, spelled O-B-L-I-G-A-T-O-I-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui a la force d’obliger suivant la loi.
  2. 2
    Ce qui est exigé par la bienséance, la morale.
  3. 3
    Que l'on ne peut éviter.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ces sortes d'affaires s'instruisent sans huissiers ni défenseurs. Le ministère de ceux-ci est déclaré n'être pas obligatoire, et le surcroît de frais qu'il eût occasionné être irrépétible.
  2. Si, lors d’une déclaration de guerre, la mobilisation était facultative, bien peu d’hommes partiraient ; c’est du reste pour cette raison que les gouvernements ont institué le service militaire obligatoire.

This word in other languages

mandatory(English)obligatorio(Español)zwingend(Deutsch)compulsório(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • boligatoire
  • obbligatoire
  • obilgatoire
  • oblgiatoire
  • obliagtoire
  • obligaotire
  • obligatiore
  • obligatoier
  • obligatoirre
  • obligatorie
  • obligattoire
  • obliggatoire
  • obligtaoire
  • oblligatoire
  • olbigatoire

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

boligatoire2obbligatoire1obilgatoire2oblgiatoire2obliagtoire2obligaotire2obligatiore2obligatoier2
Edit distance from "obligatoire"

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 "obligatoire"?
"obligatoire" is spelled O-B-L-I-G-A-T-O-I-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɔ.bli.ɡa.twaʁ\.
What does "obligatoire" mean?
As an adjective, "obligatoire" means: Qui a la force d’obliger suivant la loi.
What words are commonly confused with "obligatoire"?
"obligatoire" is commonly confused with "obligatoires", "obligataire", "obligataires". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "obligatoire"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "obligatoire" is \ɔ.bli.ɡa.twaʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "obligatoire" come from?
"obligatoire" 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 "obligatoire", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

institution#2,881disponibles#2,872coopération#2,870commissaire#2,867

Similar misspelling depth

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

compagnies15 variantsprofondeur15 variantscommunautés15 variantsconclusion15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list