surpasser
\syʁ.pa.se\
The verdict
“surpasser” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #21,782 in French word frequency and used as a verb.
- #21,782
- frequency rank, French
- 9
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Excéder ; être plus haut, plus élevé ou plus gros.
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 | surpasser |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \syʁ.pa.se\ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #21,782 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “surpasser” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for surpasser is 9 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \syʁ.pa.se\. Corpus data places it at rank #21,782 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for surpasser, with forms such as "srupasser", "ssurpasser", and "suprasser". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "surpassé", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is surpasser, spelled S-U-R-P-A-S-S-E-R.
Definition
- 1Excéder ; être plus haut, plus élevé ou plus gros.
- 2être au-dessus de, surmonter en quelque chose ; il se dit en bien et en mal.
- 3Excéder les forces, l’intelligence, les ressources.
- 4Causer un étonnement qui confond les idées.
- 5Faire encore mieux qu’on ne fait à son ordinaire, ou qu’on n’a fait jusqu’à présent.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: srupasser,ssurpasser,suprasser,surapsser,surpaser,surpasesr,surpasserr,surpassre,surppasser,surpsaser,surrpasser,usrpasser
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of surpasser - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "surpasser"?
What does "surpasser" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "surpasser"?
How do you pronounce "surpasser"?
What language does "surpasser" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “surpasser”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is S-U-R-P-A-S-S-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \syʁ.pa.se\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “surpassé” - see the side-by-side comparison. surpasser vs surpassé
- 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.