velléité

\ve.le.i.te\

/\ve.le.i.te\/ noun

The verdict

“velléité” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #49,998. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#49,998
frequency rank, French
148,117
“V” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Envie faible de faire quelque chose, hésitante et inefficace, pas forcément suivie d’un acte.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

velléité vs Villette
38% similar
velléité vs vélocité
63% similar
velléité vs velléités
89% similar

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

Key facts for velléité
PropertyValue
Headwordvelléité
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ve.le.i.te\
Letters8
Frequency rank#49,998
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “velléité” 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). velléité lands here:

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

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

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around velléité (IPA \ve.le.i.te\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #49,998 among 148,117 “V” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Envie faible de faire quelque chose, hésitante et inefficace, pas forcément suivie d’un acte.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for velléité, with forms such as "evlléité", "velleite", and "velliété". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "Villette", "vélocité", "velléités", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is velléité, spelled V-E-L-L-É-I-T-É.

Definition

  1. 1
    Envie faible de faire quelque chose, hésitante et inefficace, pas forcément suivie d’un acte.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: evlléité,velleite,velliété,velléitté,velléiét,vellétié,veléité,velélité,vleléité,vvelléité

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

evlléité2velleite2velliété2velléitté1velléiét2vellétié2veléité1velélité2
Edit distance from "velléité"

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 "velléité"?
"velléité" is spelled V-E-L-L-É-I-T-É. The IPA pronunciation is \ve.le.i.te\.
What does "velléité" mean?
As a noun, "velléité" means: Envie faible de faire quelque chose, hésitante et inefficace, pas forcément suivie d’un acte.
What words are commonly confused with "velléité"?
"velléité" is commonly confused with "Villette", "vélocité", "velléités". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "velléité"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "velléité" is \ve.le.i.te\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "velléité" come from?
"velléité" 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 “velléité”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is V-E-L-L-É-I-T-É - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ve.le.i.te\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “Villette” - see the side-by-side comparison. velléité vs Villette
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Same frequency band

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