survivre

\syʁ.vivʁ\

/\syʁ.vivʁ\/ verb

The verdict

“survivre” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #4,895 in French word frequency and used as a verb.

#4,895
frequency rank, French
8
letters
12
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ne pas mourir lors d’un évènement qui aurait pu être mortel.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

survivre vs suivre
75% similar
survivre vs survie
75% similar
survivre vs survive
88% similar

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

Key facts for survivre
PropertyValue
Headwordsurvivre
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\syʁ.vivʁ\
Letters8
Frequency rank#4,895
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “survivre” 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). survivre 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 survivre is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \syʁ.vivʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #4,895 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 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 survivre, with forms such as "sruvivre", "ssurvivre", and "surivvre". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "suivre", "survie", "survive", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is survivre, spelled S-U-R-V-I-V-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Ne pas mourir lors d’un évènement qui aurait pu être mortel.
  2. 2
    Demeurer en vie après une autre personne.
  3. 3
    Vivre encore après la perte de ce qui était important dans sa vie.
  4. 4
    Demeurer en vie après quelqu’un ^([1]). (Emploi transitif valide jusqu’au XVIIᵉ siècle)
  5. 5
    Perdurer.
  6. 6
    Laisser après soi quelque chose ou quelqu’un qui perpétue le souvenir du nom qu’on portait, des qualités, des talents qu’on possédait.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: sruvivre,ssurvivre,surivvre,surrvivre,survirve,surviver,survivrre,survivvre,survvire,survvivre,suvrivre,usrvivre

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

sruvivre2ssurvivre1surivvre2surrvivre1survirve2surviver2survivrre1survivvre1
Edit distance from "survivre"

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 "survivre"?
"survivre" is spelled S-U-R-V-I-V-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \syʁ.vivʁ\.
What does "survivre" mean?
As a verb, "survivre" means: Ne pas mourir lors d’un évènement qui aurait pu être mortel.
What words are commonly confused with "survivre"?
"survivre" is commonly confused with "suivre", "survie", "survive". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "survivre"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "survivre" is \syʁ.vivʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "survivre" come from?
"survivre" 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.

Using “survivre”

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

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