perdu
\pɛʁ.dy\
The verdict
“perdu” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #634 in French word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #634
- frequency rank, French
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Dont on n’a plus la possession, la jouissance.
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 | perdu |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \pɛʁ.dy\ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #634 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “perdu” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for perdu is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pɛʁ.dy\. Corpus data places it at rank #634 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 14 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for perdu, with forms such as "eprdu", "pedru", and "perddu". 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, "peu", "père", "péri", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is perdu, spelled P-E-R-D-U.
Definition
- 1Dont on n’a plus la possession, la jouissance.
- 2Égaré, introuvable.
- 3Isolé ; éloigné de tout.
- 4Qui est sans espoir de guérir, d’être sauvé.
- 5(d’une personne) Qui est ruiné en affaires, sans ressources.
- 6Qui a été mal utilisé ou rendu inutilisable.
- 7Où on eut ou aura le dessous, où on a été ou sera vaincu.
- 8Qu’on établit dans l’eau en y jetant de gros quartiers de pierre sans ciment.
- 9Jeté dans de petites rivières non navigables, en parlant du bois, pour le rassembler à leur embouchure dans de plus grandes rivières et en former des trains.
- 10Qui ne tranche pas sur le fond.
- 11Fait de manière invisible et à se confondre avec le tissu de l’étoffe.
- 12Posté dans un lieu extrêmement avancé, chargé d’une mission dangereuse.
- 13Posté dans un lieu extrêmement avancé, chargé d’une mission dangereuse.
- 14Qui montre dans sa conduite, dans ses discours une sorte d’égarement d’esprit.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eprdu,pedru,perddu,perrdu,perud,pperdu,predu
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of perdu - 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
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Using “perdu”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is P-E-R-D-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \pɛʁ.dy\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “peu” - see the side-by-side comparison. perdu vs peu
- 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.