obsolète

\ɔp.sɔ.lɛt\

/\ɔp.sɔ.lɛt\/ adj

The verdict

“obsolète” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #19,354. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,354
frequency rank, French
1,642
“O” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui n’est plus utilisé, en parlant d’un mot, d’une locution.

Corpus desk

Index FR-obsolete · obsolète · French

obsolète · rank #19,354 · 12 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #19,354
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,642
  • PHOTO-FINISH notifications

Nearest frequency peer: notifications (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “obsolète”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “obsolète” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

obsolète vs obsolètes
89% similar

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

Key facts for obsolète
PropertyValue
Headwordobsolète
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ɔp.sɔ.lɛt\
Letters8
Frequency rank#19,354
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “obsolète” se place dans la fréquence du français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.obsolètese place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « notifications » (#19,353), « occupaient » (#19,355), « nicotine » (#19,352). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around obsolète (IPA \ɔp.sɔ.lɛt\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #19,354 among 1,642 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for obsolète, with forms such as "bosolète", "obbsolète", and "oboslète". 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, "obsolètes", 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, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is obsolète, spelled O-B-S-O-L-È-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui n’est plus utilisé, en parlant d’un mot, d’une locution.
  2. 2
    Ancien ou suranné ; qui n’est plus utilisé, qui n’a plus cours.
  3. 3
    Peu apparent ; presque effacé.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. « Écornifleur » se compose du verbe « écorner » (dévaluer l’intégrité de) et du verbe obsolète « nifler », certes moins connu que son dérivé « renifler », mais de même sens.
  2. Les entreprises, en particulier, risquent aujourd’hui de conserver une organisation obsolète si elles n’investissent pas sur la capacité de chacun à se poser comme porteur à part entière des projets qu’elles défendent.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bosolète
  • obbsolète
  • oboslète
  • obsloète
  • obsolete
  • obsollète
  • obsoltèe
  • obsolèet
  • obsolètte
  • obsoèlte
  • obssolète
  • osbolète

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of obsolète - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

bosolète2obbsolète1oboslète2obsloète2obsolete1obsollète1obsoltèe2obsolèet2
Edit distance from "obsolète"

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 "obsolète"?
"obsolète" is spelled O-B-S-O-L-È-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɔp.sɔ.lɛt\.
What does "obsolète" mean?
As an adjective, "obsolète" means: Qui n’est plus utilisé, en parlant d’un mot, d’une locution.
What words are commonly confused with "obsolète"?
"obsolète" is commonly confused with "obsolètes". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "obsolète"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "obsolète" is \ɔp.sɔ.lɛt\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "obsolète" come from?
"obsolète" 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 "obsolète", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

What to do next

You've looked up "obsolète". Here's where to go from here.

  • This headword has one recorded confusable pair with "obsolètes". View pair
  • 12 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #19,354 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "O" letter cohort. O–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list