perspicace

\pɛʁ.spi.kas\

/\pɛʁ.spi.kas\/ adj

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

The verdict

“perspicace” has 15 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #41,447. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#41,447
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui a de la perspicacité ; qui est doué d’un esprit pénétrant et capable d’apercevoir ce qui échappe à la plupart des gens.

Corpus desk

Index FR-perspicace · perspicace · French

perspicace · rank #41,447 · 15 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #41,447
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH perceptibles

Nearest frequency peer: perceptibles (-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 « perspicace »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « perspicace » 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).

perspicace vs perspicacité
75% similar

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

Key facts for perspicace
PropertyValue
Headwordperspicace
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\pɛʁ.spi.kas\
Letters10
Frequency rank#41,447
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « perspicace »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).perspicacese 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 « perceptibles » (#41,446), « Pessac » (#41,448), « penseront » (#41,445). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « perspicace » est au #41,447. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around perspicace (IPA \pɛʁ.spi.kas\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #41,447 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Qui a de la perspicacité ; qui est doué d’un esprit pénétrant et capable d’apercevoir ce qui échappe à la plupart des gens.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for perspicace, with forms such as "eprspicace", "perpsicace", and "perrspicace". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "perspicacité", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is perspicace, spelled P-E-R-S-P-I-C-A-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui a de la perspicacité ; qui est doué d’un esprit pénétrant et capable d’apercevoir ce qui échappe à la plupart des gens.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sans la fausse bonhomie du fainéant et le laisser-aller du gobelotteur de campagne, cet homme eût effrayé les gens les moins perspicaces.
  2. Mais elle la connaît depuis sa naissance. Elle l'a vue grandir et sait à quel point elle est devenue une jeune femme perspicace et rusée.

Synonyms

clairvoyantfinintelligentlucidesagacepénétrantsubtil

This word in other languages

perspicacious(English)perspicaz(Español)scharfsinnig(Deutsch)penetrante(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • eprspicace
  • perpsicace
  • perrspicace
  • persipcace
  • perspciace
  • perspiacce
  • perspicacce
  • perspicaec
  • perspiccace
  • perspiccae
  • persppicace
  • persspicace
  • pesrpicace
  • pperspicace
  • prespicace

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

eprspicace2perpsicace2perrspicace1persipcace2perspciace2perspiacce2perspicacce1perspicaec2
Edit distance from "perspicace"

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 "perspicace"?
"perspicace" is spelled P-E-R-S-P-I-C-A-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pɛʁ.spi.kas\.
What does "perspicace" mean?
As an adjective, "perspicace" means: Qui a de la perspicacité ; qui est doué d’un esprit pénétrant et capable d’apercevoir ce qui échappe à la plupart des gens.
What words are commonly confused with "perspicace"?
"perspicace" is commonly confused with "perspicacité". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "perspicace"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "perspicace" is \pɛʁ.spi.kas\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "perspicace" come from?
"perspicace" 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 "perspicace", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

oublierais#41,438oppresseur#41,432officieuse#41,429provençaux#41,467

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

négativité15 variantspsychisme15 variantsmédiatrice15 variantspénitents15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list