vouloir

\vu.lwaʁ\

/\vu.lwaʁ\/ verb

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

The verdict

“vouloir” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #1,129. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,129
frequency rank, French
2,061
“V” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Avoir l’intention, la volonté de faire quelque chose, s’y déterminer.

Corpus desk

Index FR-vouloir · vouloir · French

vouloir · rank #1,129 · 9 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,129
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,061
  • PHOTO-FINISH vote

Nearest frequency peer: vote (-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 « vouloir »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « vouloir » 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).

vouloir vs voulons
71% similar
vouloir vs valoir
71% similar
vouloir vs voulait
71% similar

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

Key facts for vouloir
PropertyValue
Headwordvouloir
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\vu.lwaʁ\
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,129
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « vouloir »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.vouloirse place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « vote » (#1,128), « écoute » (#1,130), « valeurs » (#1,127). Parmi 2,061 lemmes en « V », « vouloir » est au #1,129. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around vouloir (IPA \vu.lwaʁ\), averb. Corpus frequency is #1,129 among 2,061 “V” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for vouloir, with forms such as "ovuloir", "voluoir", and "voulior". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "voulons", "valoir", "voulait", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is vouloir, spelled V-O-U-L-O-I-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Avoir l’intention, la volonté de faire quelque chose, s’y déterminer.
  2. 2
    Avoir une volonté agissante, efficace.
  3. 3
    Commander, exiger avec autorité.
  4. 4
    Avoir autorité sur l’homme, en parlant des choses.
  5. 5
    Désirer ; souhaiter.
  6. 6
    Permettre ; consentir.
  7. 7
    Prétendre ; affirmer avec une grande insistance.
  8. 8
    Demander un prix d’une chose qu’on veut vendre.
  9. 9
    (Sujet chose) Nécessiter, avoir besoin de.
  10. 10
    (Sujet chose) En tournure négative, indique qu'une chose résiste à une volonté humaine.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. C'est là aussi que végètent misérablement les bédouines qui ont voulu suivre leurs maris prisonniers.
  2. Il veut partir demain. Il veut faire ce voyage. Il n’en veut rien faire.

Antonyms

nouloir

This word in other languages

want(English)querer(Español)wollen(Deutsch)querer(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ovuloir
  • voluoir
  • voulior
  • voulloir
  • vouloirr
  • voulori
  • vouolir
  • vuoloir
  • vvouloir

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ovuloir2voluoir2voulior2voulloir1vouloirr1voulori2vouolir2vuoloir2
Edit distance from "vouloir"

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 "vouloir"?
"vouloir" is spelled V-O-U-L-O-I-R. The IPA pronunciation is \vu.lwaʁ\.
What does "vouloir" mean?
As a verb, "vouloir" means: Avoir l’intention, la volonté de faire quelque chose, s’y déterminer.
What words are commonly confused with "vouloir"?
"vouloir" is commonly confused with "voulons", "valoir", "voulait". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "vouloir"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "vouloir" is \vu.lwaʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "vouloir" come from?
"vouloir" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

valeurs#1,127animaux#1,132chanson#1,135médecin#1,120

Similar misspelling depth

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

Philippe9 variantsmaladie9 variantsmacron9 variantsgarder9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list