riddle

\ˈrɪ.dəl\

/\ˈrɪ.dəl\/ noun

The verdict

“riddle” is uncommon French (frequency #76,985 among 5,742 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,985
frequency rank, French
5,742
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Devinette.

Corpus desk

Index FR-riddle · riddle · French

riddle · rank #76,985 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,985
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,742
  • PHOTO-FINISH ricochets

Nearest frequency peer: ricochets (-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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « riddle »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « riddle » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for riddle
PropertyValue
Headwordriddle
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈrɪ.dəl\
Letters6
Frequency rank#76,985
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « riddle » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).riddletombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « ricochets » (#76,984), « rogan » (#76,988), « rhumatologie » (#76,981). Parmi 5,742 lemmes en « R », « riddle » est au #76,985. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

riddle is uncommon French at frequency #76,985 among 5,742 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈrɪ.dəl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Devinette.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for riddle, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is riddle, spelled R-I-D-D-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Devinette.

Synonyms

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 "riddle"?
"riddle" is spelled R-I-D-D-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈrɪ.dəl\.
What does "riddle" mean?
As a noun, "riddle" means: Devinette.
How do you pronounce "riddle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "riddle" is \ˈrɪ.dəl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "riddle" come from?
"riddle" 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 "riddle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list