subtil
\syp.til\
The verdict
“subtil” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #12,069. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #12,069
- frequency rank, French
- 6,032
- “S” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui est délié, fin, menu.
Corpus desk
Index FR-subtil · subtil · French
subtil · rank #12,069 · 9 variants · 8 confusables
- FREQ-MID #12,069
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,032
- PHOTO-FINISH Stockholm
Nearest frequency peer: Stockholm (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “subtil”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- stables
stables
87,935 corpus weight
- stimuler
stimuler
87,934 corpus weight
- Stockholm
Stockholm
87,933 corpus weight
- subtil
subtil
87,932 corpus weight
- succédé
succédé
87,931 corpus weight
- suivait
suivait
87,930 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “subtil” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | subtil |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \syp.til\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #12,069 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “subtil” sits in French frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around subtil (IPA \syp.til\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #12,069 among 6,032 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for subtil, with forms such as "sbutil", "ssubtil", and "subbtil". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "subtile", "subtils", "subtiles", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is subtil, spelled S-U-B-T-I-L.
Definition
- 1Qui est délié, fin, menu.
- 2Qualifie les choses qui sont de nature à pénétrer, à s’insinuer promptement.
- 3Qui perçoit finement, avec acuité, qui distingue les choses les plus fines à saisir.
- 4Qui manifeste de la finesse, de l’ingéniosité, de la pénétration.
- 5Qui est trop raffiné, qui échappe à l’intelligence par un excès de finesse.
- 6Difficile à percevoir ou comprendre en raison de sa finesse ou de sa complexité.
- 7Intangible, immatériel, spirituel, astral, éthérique.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how subtil appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[…] on les fait sécher, mais non au soleil, puis on les met en poudre bien subtile, & on en donne une dragme dans un peu de vin tous les matins à jeun.
Il fait doux, il fait clair. L'hiver commence à peine et je ne sais quoi de printanier flotte dans l'air subtil.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- sbutil
- ssubtil
- subbtil
- subitl
- subtill
- subtli
- subttil
- sutbil
- usbtil
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of subtil - 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.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "subtil"?
What does "subtil" mean?
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Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "subtil", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "subtil". Here's where to go from here.
- "subtil" maps to 8 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "subtile". View pair
- 9 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #12,069 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more French words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.