subtil
\syp.til\
The verdict
“subtil” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #12,069 in French word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #12,069
- frequency rank, French
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Qui est délié, fin, menu.
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
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for subtil is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \syp.til\. Corpus data places it at rank #12,069 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "subtil"?
What does "subtil" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "subtil"?
How do you pronounce "subtil"?
What language does "subtil" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “subtil”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is S-U-B-T-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \syp.til\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “subtile” - see the side-by-side comparison. subtil vs subtile
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.