problème

/\pʁɔ.blɛm\/ noun

Letters

8 characters

Frequency Rank

#329

in French word usage

Misspellings

13

tracked variants

Confusables

5

similar word pairs

problème is aFrenchnoun. It means: Question scientifique à résoudre. Pronounced \pʁɔ.blɛm\. It ranks #329 in French word frequency. Often confused with proclamé and problems.

Key facts for problème
PropertyValue
Headwordproblème
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pʁɔ.blɛm\
Letters8
Frequency rank#329
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of problème in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for problème is 8 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pʁɔ.blɛm\. Corpus data places it at rank #329 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 13 documented wrong-spelling variants for problème, with forms such as "porblème", "pproblème", and "prbolème". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "proclamé", "problems", "problèmes", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is problème, spelled P-R-O-B-L-È-M-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Question scientifique à résoudre.
  2. 2
    Question difficile à résoudre.
  3. 3
    Difficulté, ennui, souci.
  4. 4
    Tout ce qui est difficile à concevoir, comme définir un caractère ou expliquer une conduite.
  5. 5
    Affaire embrouillée.
  6. 6
    Jeu ou énigme publié dans la presse, grille de mots croisés, de mots fléchés, de sudoku, exercice d’échecs, de dames, de bridge.
  7. 7
    Composition artistique dans le domaine des échecs ou des dames.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: porblème,pproblème,prbolème,probblème,probleme,probllème,problmèe,problèem,problèmme,probèlme,prolbème,prroblème,rpoblème

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for problème

Misspelling Variants of "problème"

porblème8pproblème9prbolème8probblème9probleme8probllème9problmèe8problèem8
Misspelling Variants of "problème"

Frequency rank: #329 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "problème"?
"problème" is spelled P-R-O-B-L-È-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pʁɔ.blɛm\.
What does "problème" mean?
As a noun, "problème" means: Question scientifique à résoudre.
What words are commonly confused with "problème"?
"problème" is commonly confused with "proclamé", "problems", "problèmes". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "problème"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "problème" is \pʁɔ.blɛm\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "problème" come from?
"problème" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter P in our French index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.