oblique
\ɔ.blik\
The verdict
“oblique” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #25,418 in French word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #25,418
- frequency rank, French
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Qui s’écarte plus ou moins de la verticale.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | oblique |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \ɔ.blik\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #25,418 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “oblique” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for oblique is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɔ.blik\. Corpus data places it at rank #25,418 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for oblique, with forms such as "bolique", "obblique", and "obilque". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "optique", "obliques", "obligé", and more, 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, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is oblique, spelled O-B-L-I-Q-U-E.
Definition
- 1Qui s’écarte plus ou moins de la verticale.
- 2Qui est indirect, détourné.
- 3Qui manque de droiture, de franchise.
- 4Qui ne fait pas face, qui est de travers, qui louche.
- 5En grammaire traditionnelle et dans les langues où les cas se déclinent, désigne tous les cas, sauf le nominatif et le vocatif.
- 6Un actant qui n’appartient pas à la valence du verbe.
- 7Qualifie la relation qui concerne une personne et son neveu ou sa nièce.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bolique,obblique,obilque,obliqeu,obliqque,obliuqe,obllique,oblqiue,olbique
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of oblique - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "oblique"?
What does "oblique" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "oblique"?
How do you pronounce "oblique"?
What language does "oblique" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “oblique”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is O-B-L-I-Q-U-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ɔ.blik\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “optique” - see the side-by-side comparison. oblique vs optique
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.