tête-à-tête

[tɛtaˈtɛːt]

/[tɛtaˈtɛːt]/ adv

The verdict

“tête-à-tête” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - zu zweit, unter vier Augen

Corpus desk

Index DE-tete-a-tete · tête-à-tête · German

tête-à-tête · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for tête-à-tête
PropertyValue
Headwordtête-à-tête
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdverb
IPA[tɛtaˈtɛːt]
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „tête-à-tête“ im Deutschen

tête-à-têtesitzt jenseits der 100.000 häufigsten deutschen Formen, im Schwanz spezialisierten oder seltenen Wortschatzes.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tête-à-tête is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed [tɛtaˈtɛːt]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "zu zweit, unter vier Augen".

tête-à-tête doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is tête-à-tête, spelled T-Ê-T-E---À---T-Ê-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    zu zweit, unter vier Augen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Ein zweites Frühstück tête-à-tête wäre nicht schlecht.“
  2. „Für einen Europäer ist die Bedeutung einer Einladung, tête-à-tête in einem Privatzimmer im Hotel Shepheard zu soupieren, vollkommen klar.“

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tête-à-tête"?
"tête-à-tête" is spelled T-Ê-T-E---À---T-Ê-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is [tɛtaˈtɛːt].
What does "tête-à-tête" mean?
As an adverb, "tête-à-tête" means: zu zweit, unter vier Augen
How do you pronounce "tête-à-tête"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tête-à-tête" is [tɛtaˈtɛːt]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tête-à-tête" come from?
"tête-à-tête" is a German 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list