réticent

\ʁe.ti.sɑ̃\

/\ʁe.ti.sɑ̃\/ adj

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

The verdict

“réticent” has 13 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #29,135. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#29,135
frequency rank, French
5,742
“R” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui fait preuve de réticence, qui tait volontairement ce qu’il pourrait ou devrait dire.

Corpus desk

Index FR-reticent · réticent · French

réticent · rank #29,135 · 13 variants · 12 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #29,135
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 12 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,742
  • PHOTO-FINISH résigner

Nearest frequency peer: résigner (-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 « réticent »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « réticent » 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).

réticent vs revient
63% similar
réticent vs retient
75% similar
réticent vs retiens
63% similar

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

Key facts for réticent
PropertyValue
Headwordréticent
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ʁe.ti.sɑ̃\
Letters8
Frequency rank#29,135
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « réticent »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).réticentse 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 « résigner » (#29,134), « sabbat » (#29,136), « Salazar » (#29,137). Parmi 5,742 lemmes en « R », « réticent » est au #29,135. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around réticent (IPA \ʁe.ti.sɑ̃\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #29,135 among 5,742 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for réticent, with forms such as "reticent", "rréticent", and "rtéicent". 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 12 confusable-pair relationships, "revient", "retient", "retiens", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists 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 réticent, spelled R-É-T-I-C-E-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui fait preuve de réticence, qui tait volontairement ce qu’il pourrait ou devrait dire.
  2. 2
    Qui dénote l’omission volontaire de ce qui pourrait ou devrait être dit.
  3. 3
    Qui contient des omissions volontaires.
  4. 4
    Qui fait preuve de réserve et de désapprobation, qui manque de bonne volonté (être réticent à, envers, à l’égard de quelqu'un ou quelque chose ou à faire quelque chose).
  5. 5
    Qualifie un regex réticent.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Un discours réticent.
  2. Il est réticent à l’idée de continuer sur cette voie et à se faire vacciner.

This word in other languages

reluctant(English)reacio(Español)widerwillig(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • reticent
  • rréticent
  • rtéicent
  • réitcent
  • rétcient
  • réticcent
  • réticennt
  • réticentt
  • réticetn
  • réticnet
  • rétiecnt
  • rétticent
  • érticent

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of réticent - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

reticent1rréticent1rtéicent2réitcent2rétcient2réticcent1réticennt1réticentt1
Edit distance from "réticent"

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 "réticent"?
"réticent" is spelled R-É-T-I-C-E-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁe.ti.sɑ̃\.
What does "réticent" mean?
As an adjective, "réticent" means: Qui fait preuve de réticence, qui tait volontairement ce qu’il pourrait ou devrait dire.
What words are commonly confused with "réticent"?
"réticent" is commonly confused with "revient", "retient", "retiens". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "réticent"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "réticent" is \ʁe.ti.sɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "réticent" come from?
"réticent" 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 "réticent", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

résigner#29,134savannah#29,141sculptés#29,144Rodrigue#29,124

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

ressentais13 variantsrepeindre13 variantsSyphilis13 variantsperpétré13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list