pensées

\pɑ̃.se\

/\pɑ̃.se\/ noun

The verdict

“pensées” has 11 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #3,029. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,029
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pluriel de pensée.

Corpus desk

Index FR-pensees · pensées · French

pensées · rank #3,029 · 11 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,029
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH paye

Nearest frequency peer: paye (-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 “pensées”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “pensées” 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).

pensées vs pesée
71% similar
pensées vs penser
71% similar
pensées vs pensez
71% similar

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

Key facts for pensées
PropertyValue
Headwordpensées
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pɑ̃.se\
Letters7
Frequency rank#3,029
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “pensées” se place dans la fréquence du français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).penséesse 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 « paye » (#3,028), « positions » (#3,030), « patient » (#3,027). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around pensées (IPA \pɑ̃.se\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,029 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for pensées, with forms such as "epnsées", "pennsées", and "pensees". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pesée", "penser", "pensez", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is pensées, spelled P-E-N-S-É-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pluriel de pensée.
  2. 2
    Livre composé de réflexions qui ne sont pas liées les unes aux autres.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Il borgnottait à l’intérieur de son crâne des pensées informes, fatigué à crever, quand ça l’avait mordu : « La Lola comment a-t-elle trouvé la villa sur la Marne ? »
  2. Toute la littérature des "Maximes" et des "Pensées" est sortie du salon d'une femme aimable [Madeleine de Souvré, 1599-1678] retirée dans le coin d'un couvent, qui, n'ayant plus d'autre plaisir que celui de revenir sur elle-même, sur ce qu'elle avait vu et senti, sut donner ses goûts à sa société.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • epnsées
  • pennsées
  • pensees
  • penseés
  • penssées
  • penséess
  • pensése
  • penéses
  • pesnées
  • pnesées
  • ppensées

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

epnsées2pennsées1pensees1penseés2penssées1penséess1pensése2penéses2
Edit distance from "pensées"

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 "pensées"?
"pensées" is spelled P-E-N-S-É-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is \pɑ̃.se\.
What does "pensées" mean?
As a noun, "pensées" means: Pluriel de pensée.
What words are commonly confused with "pensées"?
"pensées" is commonly confused with "pesée", "penser", "pensez". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pensées"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pensées" is \pɑ̃.se\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pensées" come from?
"pensées" 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 "pensées", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

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

What to do next

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

  • "pensées" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "pesée". View pair
  • 11 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #3,029 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "P" letter cohort. P–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