tenter

\tɑ̃.te\

/\tɑ̃.te\/ verb

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

The verdict

“tenter” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #1,723. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,723
frequency rank, French
3,703
“T” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Essayer, éprouver ou mettre en usage quelque moyen pour faire réussir quelque chose.

Corpus desk

Index FR-tenter · tenter · French

tenter · rank #1,723 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,723
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,703
  • PHOTO-FINISH suit

Nearest frequency peer: suit (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « tenter »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « tenter » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

tenter vs tête
50% similar
tenter vs texte
67% similar
tenter vs têtes
50% similar

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

Key facts for tenter
PropertyValue
Headwordtenter
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\tɑ̃.te\
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,723
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « tenter »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).tenterse place ici:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « suit » (#1,722), « test » (#1,724), « souvenir » (#1,721). Parmi 3,703 lemmes en « T », « tenter » est au #1,723. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around tenter (IPA \tɑ̃.te\), averb. Corpus frequency is #1,723 among 3,703 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for tenter, with forms such as "etnter", "tenetr", and "tennter". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tête", "texte", "têtes", 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 read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is tenter, spelled T-E-N-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Essayer, éprouver ou mettre en usage quelque moyen pour faire réussir quelque chose.
  2. 2
    Éprouver la fidélité à Dieu.
  3. 3
    Solliciter au péché, au mal.
  4. 4
    Donner envie, inspirer le désir, l’envie de faire quelque chose.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how tenter appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Le conducteur aurait tenté d'éviter l'animal avant de perdre le contrôle de son véhicule.
  2. Il pâlit un peu, puis, tentant un effort désespéré, réussit à dégager un pied, tandis que l’autre restait prisonnier de la glu mouvante et fétide des profondeurs.

Synonyms

entreprendreessayeréprouver

This word in other languages

attempt(English)tentar(Español)versuchen(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • etnter
  • tenetr
  • tennter
  • tenterr
  • tentre
  • tentter
  • tetner
  • tneter
  • ttenter

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

etnter2tenetr2tennter1tenterr1tentre2tentter1tetner2tneter2
Edit distance from "tenter"

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 "tenter"?
"tenter" is spelled T-E-N-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \tɑ̃.te\.
What does "tenter" mean?
As a verb, "tenter" means: Essayer, éprouver ou mettre en usage quelque moyen pour faire réussir quelque chose.
What words are commonly confused with "tenter"?
"tenter" is commonly confused with "tête", "texte", "têtes". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tenter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tenter" is \tɑ̃.te\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tenter" come from?
"tenter" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tenter", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

civile#1,731envoie#1,736patron#1,710moteur#1,705

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

cerveau9 variantspourrais9 variantsouvrage9 variantsofficiel9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list