sûreté

\syʁ.te\

/\syʁ.te\/ noun

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

The verdict

“sûreté” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #5,082 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#5,082
frequency rank, French
6
letters
9
tracked misspellings
19
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Nature ou caractère de ce qui est sûr.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sûreté vs survie
33% similar
sûreté vs sure
50% similar
sûreté vs suite
33% similar

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

Key facts for sûreté
PropertyValue
Headwordsûreté
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\syʁ.te\
Letters6
Frequency rank#5,082
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs19
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sûreté” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). sûreté lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for sûreté is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \syʁ.te\. Corpus data places it at rank #5,082 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 11 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 sûreté, with forms such as "srûeté", "ssûreté", and "surete". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 19 confusable-pair relationships, "survie", "sure", "suite", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

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 sûreté, spelled S-Û-R-E-T-É.

Definition

  1. 1
    Nature ou caractère de ce qui est sûr.
  2. 2
    Éloignement de tout péril ; état de celui qui n’a rien à craindre pour sa personne ou pour sa fortune ; état de ce qui est à l’abri.
  3. 3
    Précaution.
  4. 4
    Disposition juridique consentie par un débiteur pour donner des assurances qu’il remplira ses obligations.
  5. 5
    Caractère d’un homme sur qui on peut compter.
  6. 6
    Assurance, fermeté d’un membre, d’un sens, d’une faculté, etc.
  7. 7
    Corps de police, comme dans le nom propre Sûreté du Québec (nom de la police nationale).
  8. 8
    Ellipse de place de sûreté, places qu’un État donne ou retient pour la sûreté de l’exécution d’un traité. (Littré)
  9. 9
    En gestion des risques, ce qui concourt à la prévention contre les atteintes volontaires (intrusion, dégradation).
  10. 10
    Dispositif du mécanisme d’une arme à feu permettant d’empêcher un tir involontaire.
  11. 11
    Qualité d’un système qui garantit qu’il ne sortira pas d’un certain ensemble d’états.

Synonyms

sécurité

This word in other languages

safety(English)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: srûeté,ssûreté,surete,sûerté,sûretté,sûreét,sûrreté,sûrteé,ûsreté

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sûreté - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

srûeté2ssûreté1surete2sûerté2sûretté1sûreét2sûrreté1sûrteé2
Edit distance from "sûreté"

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 "sûreté"?
"sûreté" is spelled S-Û-R-E-T-É. The IPA pronunciation is \syʁ.te\.
What does "sûreté" mean?
As a noun, "sûreté" means: Nature ou caractère de ce qui est sûr.
What words are commonly confused with "sûreté"?
"sûreté" is commonly confused with "survie", "sure", "suite". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sûreté"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sûreté" is \syʁ.te\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sûreté" come from?
"sûreté" 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.

Using “sûreté”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is S-Û-R-E-T-É - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \syʁ.te\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “survie” - see the side-by-side comparison. sûreté vs survie
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list