réticence

/\ʁe.ti.sɑ̃s\/ noun

Letters

9 characters

Frequency Rank

#22,693

in French word usage

Misspellings

14

tracked variants

Confusables

6

similar word pairs

réticence is aFrenchnoun. It means: Action de taire à dessein une chose qu’on pourrait ou qu’on devrait dire. Pronounced \ʁe.ti.sɑ̃s\. Often confused with réticent and retienne.

Key facts for réticence
PropertyValue
Headwordréticence
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʁe.ti.sɑ̃s\
Letters9
Frequency rank#22,693
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for réticence is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʁe.ti.sɑ̃s\. Corpus data places it at rank #22,693 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 14 documented wrong-spelling variants for réticence, with forms such as "reticence", "rréticence", and "rtéicence". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "réticent", "retienne", "réticents", 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 réticence, spelled R-É-T-I-C-E-N-C-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Action de taire à dessein une chose qu’on pourrait ou qu’on devrait dire.
  2. 2
    Chose même que l’on n’a pas dite.
  3. 3
    Figure par laquelle l’orateur en s’interrompant fait entendre ce qu’il ne veut pas dire expressément.
  4. 4
    Réserve ou restriction.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: reticence,rréticence,rtéicence,réitcence,rétcience,réticcence,réticecne,réticencce,réticenec,réticennce,réticnece,rétiecnce,rétticence,érticence

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for réticence

Misspelling Variants of "réticence"

reticence9rréticence10rtéicence9réitcence9rétcience9réticcence10réticecne9réticencce10
Misspelling Variants of "réticence"

Frequency rank: #22,693 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "réticence"?
"réticence" is spelled R-É-T-I-C-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁe.ti.sɑ̃s\.
What does "réticence" mean?
As a noun, "réticence" means: Action de taire à dessein une chose qu’on pourrait ou qu’on devrait dire.
What words are commonly confused with "réticence"?
"réticence" is commonly confused with "réticent", "retienne", "réticents". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "réticence"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "réticence" is \ʁe.ti.sɑ̃s\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "réticence" come from?
"réticence" 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 R in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

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