serrer

\se.ʁe\

/\se.ʁe\/ verb

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

The verdict

“serrer” has 7 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #7,498. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,498
frequency rank, French
6,032
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Renfermer, ranger, mettre en lieu sûr, à l’abri.

Corpus desk

Index FR-serrer · serrer · French

serrer · rank #7,498 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,498
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,032
  • PHOTO-FINISH semblables

Nearest frequency peer: semblables (-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 « serrer »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « serrer » 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).

serrer vs serve
67% similar
serrer vs servir
67% similar
serrer vs surfer
67% similar

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

Key facts for serrer
PropertyValue
Headwordserrer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\se.ʁe\
Letters6
Frequency rank#7,498
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « serrer »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.serrerse 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 « semblables » (#7,497), « short » (#7,499), « scénarios » (#7,496). Parmi 6,032 lemmes en « S », « serrer » est au #7,498. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around serrer (IPA \se.ʁe\), averb. Corpus frequency is #7,498 among 6,032 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for serrer, with forms such as "esrrer", "serer", and "sererr". 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, "serve", "servir", "surfer", 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 its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is serrer, spelled S-E-R-R-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Renfermer, ranger, mettre en lieu sûr, à l’abri.
  2. 2
    Étreindre ; presser.
  3. 3
    Mettre près l’un de l’autre, rapprocher étroitement.
  4. 4
    Oppresser.
  5. 5
    Définition manquante ou à compléter. (Ajouter)
  6. 6
    Replier et ranger une voile sur sa vergue.
  7. 7
    Ranger.
  8. 8
    Perdre son sang froid, son calme, faire n’importe quoi (référence au moteur qui serre lorsqu’il n’y a plus d’huile, serrer désigne la personne qui ne se maîtrise plus, par sa conduite ou ses paroles).
  9. 9
    Séduire, réussir à sortir avec quelqu’un, à flirter, etc.
  10. 10
    Attraper ; interpeller.
  11. 11
    Diminuer l’angle de champ d’une prise de vue ou d’un plan.
  12. 12
    Économiser, épargner, se restreindre.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. La moisson estant faite, ce peuple serre son blé dans la terre en des fosses qu’ils font en quelque pendant de colline ou tertre, pour l’égout des eaux, garnissans de nattes icelles fosses : et cela font ils pource qu’ils n’ont point de maisons à étages, ni de coffres pour le serrer autrement : puis, le blé conservé de cette façon est hors la voye des rat…
  2. Ce nom de Trognon lui fit entrevoir quelque machination, il crut à quelque vice de forme projeté par avance, à quelque infidélité préméditée par la Cibot, et il résolut de se servir de ce Trognon pour se faire dicter un testament olographe qu’il cachèterait et serrerait dans le tiroir de sa commode.

Synonyms

craquerdevenirpéteremballerbaiserpéchoséduire

This word in other languages

squeeze(English)apretar(Español)einschließen(Deutsch)esticar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • esrrer
  • serer
  • sererr
  • serrerr
  • serrre
  • srerer
  • sserrer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

esrrer2serer1sererr2serrerr1serrre2srerer2sserrer1
Edit distance from "serrer"

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 "serrer"?
"serrer" is spelled S-E-R-R-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \se.ʁe\.
What does "serrer" mean?
As a verb, "serrer" means: Renfermer, ranger, mettre en lieu sûr, à l’abri.
What words are commonly confused with "serrer"?
"serrer" is commonly confused with "serve", "servir", "surfer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "serrer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "serrer" is \se.ʁe\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "serrer" come from?
"serrer" 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 "serrer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

tantôt#7,501rompre#7,494pirate#7,478amical#7,519

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

grise7 variantsfrein7 variantshotel7 variantsmanif7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list