pencher
\pɑ̃.ʃe\
The verdict
“pencher” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #10,375 in French word frequency and used as a verb.
- #10,375
- frequency rank, French
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Incliner ; baisser quelque chose de quelque côté ; mettre quelque chose hors d’aplomb.
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 | pencher |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \pɑ̃.ʃe\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #10,375 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pencher” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for pencher is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pɑ̃.ʃe\. Corpus data places it at rank #10,375 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for pencher, with forms such as "epncher", "pecnher", and "penccher". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "penser", "percer", "perche", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is pencher, spelled P-E-N-C-H-E-R.
Definition
- 1Incliner ; baisser quelque chose de quelque côté ; mettre quelque chose hors d’aplomb.
- 2Se dit de tout ce qui est hors de son aplomb, hors de la ligne perpendiculaire ; de tout ce qui n’est pas de niveau, qui va en descendant.
- 3Être porté à quelque chose ; être enclin à.
- 4En parlant d'un cheval dans une course hippique, ne pas courir droit, avoir une trajectoire inclinée vers un côté, généralement sous le coup de la fatigue.
- 5S’incliner vers le bas ou de côté, se baisser.
- 6Être mis, se mettre dans une position oblique, inclinée, vers le bas.
- 7Se pencher sur : Manifester attention et intérêt pour quelque chose, se consacrer à l’étude de quelque chose.
- 8Avoir, manifester une attitude bienveillante envers quelqu'un, parfois avec une idée de condescendance.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: epncher,pecnher,penccher,pencehr,pencherr,penchher,penchre,penhcer,penncher,pnecher,ppencher
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pencher - 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.
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 "pencher"?
What does "pencher" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "pencher"?
How do you pronounce "pencher"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “pencher”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is P-E-N-C-H-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \pɑ̃.ʃe\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “penser” - see the side-by-side comparison. pencher vs penser
- 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.