reculer

\ʁə.ky.le\

/\ʁə.ky.le\/ verb

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

The verdict

“reculer” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #8,452. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,452
frequency rank, French
5,742
“R” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tirer ou pousser un objet en arrière.

Corpus desk

Index FR-reculer · reculer · French

reculer · rank #8,452 · 10 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,452
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,742
  • PHOTO-FINISH regrets

Nearest frequency peer: regrets (+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 « reculer »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « reculer » 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).

reculer vs régler
57% similar
reculer vs rouler
71% similar
reculer vs remuer
71% similar

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

Key facts for reculer
PropertyValue
Headwordreculer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ʁə.ky.le\
Letters7
Frequency rank#8,452
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « reculer »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.reculerse 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 « regrets » (#8,453), « rappeur » (#8,450), « renvoyé » (#8,454). Parmi 5,742 lemmes en « R », « reculer » est au #8,452. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around reculer (IPA \ʁə.ky.le\), averb. Corpus frequency is #8,452 among 5,742 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for reculer, with forms such as "erculer", "rceuler", and "recculer". 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, "régler", "rouler", "remuer", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is reculer, spelled R-E-C-U-L-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tirer ou pousser un objet en arrière.
  2. 2
    Porter plus loin, déplacer les limites, les frontières.
  3. 3
    Éloigner quelqu’un du but qu’il se propose, retarder, ajourner une affaire.
  4. 4
    Sodomiser de nouveau.
  5. 5
    Aller en arrière.
  6. 6
    Régresser, en parlant des affaires et des personnes.
  7. 7
    Ne pas soutenir avec fermeté ses droits, ses opinions.
  8. 8
    Différer, éviter de faire quelque chose qu’on exige ou qu’on désire de nous.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Reculez un peu votre chaise.
  2. Reculez la table.

Antonyms

avancer

This word in other languages

push back(English)diferir(Español)zurücktreten(Deutsch)adiar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • erculer
  • rceuler
  • recculer
  • recluer
  • recuelr
  • reculerr
  • reculler
  • reculre
  • reucler
  • rreculer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

erculer2rceuler2recculer1recluer2recuelr2reculerr1reculler1reculre2
Edit distance from "reculer"

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 "reculer"?
"reculer" is spelled R-E-C-U-L-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁə.ky.le\.
What does "reculer" mean?
As a verb, "reculer" means: Tirer ou pousser un objet en arrière.
What words are commonly confused with "reculer"?
"reculer" is commonly confused with "régler", "rouler", "remuer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "reculer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "reculer" is \ʁə.ky.le\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "reculer" come from?
"reculer" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "reculer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

regrets#8,453rappeur#8,450renvoyé#8,454repérer#8,455

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

passager10 variantsstocks10 variantsSydney10 variantsnormaux10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list