perplexe

\pɛʁ.plɛks\

/\pɛʁ.plɛks\/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“perplexe” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #15,714. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,714
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui est dans une grande incertitude, dans une irrésolution pénible sur ce qu’il doit faire ou penser.

Corpus desk

Index FR-perplexe · perplexe · French

perplexe · rank #15,714 · 12 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,714
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH perdait

Nearest frequency peer: perdait (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « perplexe »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « perplexe » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

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).

perplexe vs peuplée
63% similar
perplexe vs perplexité
70% similar

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

Key facts for perplexe
PropertyValue
Headwordperplexe
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\pɛʁ.plɛks\
Letters8
Frequency rank#15,714
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « perplexe »

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

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « perdait » (#15,713), « persuader » (#15,715), « peluche » (#15,712). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « perplexe » est au #15,714. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around perplexe (IPA \pɛʁ.plɛks\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #15,714 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for perplexe, with forms such as "eprplexe", "peprlexe", and "perlpexe". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "peuplée", "perplexité", 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 any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is perplexe, spelled P-E-R-P-L-E-X-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui est dans une grande incertitude, dans une irrésolution pénible sur ce qu’il doit faire ou penser.
  2. 2
    Ce qui cause de la perplexité ou de l’irrésolution.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Elle n’avait pas un grand choix de robes, et cependant demeura un moment perplexe devant le placard ouvert. Aucune ne lui plaisait, car jamais personne ne l’avait complimentée sur l’une d’elles.
  2. Cependant, face au récit de la vie de Macaire le Copte, ce père du désert imaginé par Weyergans, le lecteur reste perplexe : peut-on vraiment trouver la sainteté en s'abîmant ainsi dans la recherche des frustrations et en s'exposant de la sorte aux maladies sournoises de la malnutrition, isolé de toute relation humaine ?

This word in other languages

perplexed(English)perplejo(Español)perplex(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • eprplexe
  • peprlexe
  • perlpexe
  • perpelxe
  • perpleex
  • perplexxe
  • perpllexe
  • perplxee
  • perpplexe
  • perrplexe
  • pperplexe
  • preplexe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

eprplexe2peprlexe2perlpexe2perpelxe2perpleex2perplexxe1perpllexe1perplxee2
Edit distance from "perplexe"

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 "perplexe"?
"perplexe" is spelled P-E-R-P-L-E-X-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pɛʁ.plɛks\.
What does "perplexe" mean?
As an adjective, "perplexe" means: Qui est dans une grande incertitude, dans une irrésolution pénible sur ce qu’il doit faire ou penser.
What words are commonly confused with "perplexe"?
"perplexe" is commonly confused with "peuplée", "perplexité". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "perplexe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "perplexe" is \pɛʁ.plɛks\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "perplexe" come from?
"perplexe" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "perplexe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

patinage#15,709parvenue#15,707partiels#15,706porteuse#15,723

Similar misspelling depth

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

patinoire12 variantsNicholas12 variantsradiation12 variantsmélodies12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list