utilité

\y.ti.li.te\

/\y.ti.li.te\/ noun

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

The verdict

“utilité” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #4,453 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#4,453
frequency rank, French
7
letters
10
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Aptitude d’une chose, d’une action ou d’une connaissance à répondre à un besoin ou à procurer un avantage.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

utilité vs utile
57% similar
utilité vs utilisé
86% similar
utilité vs unicité
71% similar

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

Key facts for utilité
PropertyValue
Headwordutilité
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\y.ti.li.te\
Letters7
Frequency rank#4,453
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “utilité” 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). utilité 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 utilité is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \y.ti.li.te\. Corpus data places it at rank #4,453 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for utilité, with forms such as "tuilité", "uitlité", and "utiilté". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "utile", "utilisé", "unicité", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is utilité, spelled U-T-I-L-I-T-É.

Definition

  1. 1
    Aptitude d’une chose, d’une action ou d’une connaissance à répondre à un besoin ou à procurer un avantage.
  2. 2
    Ce qui est utile à la collectivité, en particulier dans le cadre de l’utilité publique ou de l’utilité générale.
  3. 3
    Valeur subjective attribuée par un individu à un bien ou à un service, mesurée par la satisfaction ou le bien-être qu’il en retire ; notion centrale de l’utilité marginale.
  4. 4
    Interprète chargé·e de rôles secondaires ou de figuration.
  5. 5
    Ensemble des fluides, énergies et services auxiliaires nécessaires au fonctionnement d’une installation (vapeur, air comprimé, électricité, eau, froid, etc.).

Antonyms

inutilité

This word in other languages

usefulness(English)utilidade(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: tuilité,uitlité,utiilté,utilite,utilitté,utiliét,utillité,utiltié,utliité,uttilité

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

tuilité2uitlité2utiilté2utilite1utilitté1utiliét2utillité1utiltié2
Edit distance from "utilité"

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 "utilité"?
"utilité" is spelled U-T-I-L-I-T-É. The IPA pronunciation is \y.ti.li.te\.
What does "utilité" mean?
As a noun, "utilité" means: Aptitude d’une chose, d’une action ou d’une connaissance à répondre à un besoin ou à procurer un avantage.
What words are commonly confused with "utilité"?
"utilité" is commonly confused with "utile", "utilisé", "unicité". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "utilité"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "utilité" is \y.ti.li.te\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "utilité" come from?
"utilité" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 “utilité”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is U-T-I-L-I-T-É - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \y.ti.li.te\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “utile” - see the side-by-side comparison. utilité vs utile
  • 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