beaucoup

/boʊˈkuː/

//boʊˈkuː// det

"beaucoup" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“beaucoup” is uncommon English (frequency #77,449 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a determiner. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#77,449
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Much, many, a lot of.

Corpus desk

Index EN-beaucoup · beaucoup · English

beaucoup · rank #77,449 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #77,449
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bedbug

Nearest frequency peer: bedbug (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

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.

Long-tail ranks near “beaucoup”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “beaucoup” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for beaucoup
PropertyValue
Headwordbeaucoup
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechDeterminer
IPA/boʊˈkuː/
Letters8
Frequency rank#77,449
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “beaucoup” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).beaucoupfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “bedbug” (#77,450), “Behan” (#77,451), “Bercow” (#77,453). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “beaucoup” is #77,449. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

beaucoup is uncommon English at frequency #77,449 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as adeterminer, transcribed /boʊˈkuː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Much, many, a lot of.".

No misspelling variants are generated for beaucoup in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French beaucoup, early 20th century. Popularized by American GIs during the Vietnam War. The pronunciation /ˈbuːkuː/ was influenced by Louisiana French boucoup, a variant. The correct English form is beaucoup, spelled B-E-A-U-C-O-U-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    Much, many, a lot of.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. You know that cost beaucoup bucks!
  2. “I bet the skipper’s been drinkin^([sic]) beaucoup highballs an^([sic]) thinks Brooklyn’s Hoboken.”

Etymology

Borrowed from French beaucoup, early 20th century. Popularized by American GIs during the Vietnam War. The pronunciation /ˈbuːkuː/ was influenced by Louisiana French boucoup, a variant.

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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "beaucoup"?
"beaucoup" is spelled B-E-A-U-C-O-U-P. The IPA pronunciation is /boʊˈkuː/.
What does "beaucoup" mean?
As a determiner, "beaucoup" means: Much, many, a lot of.
How do you pronounce "beaucoup"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "beaucoup" is /boʊˈkuː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "beaucoup"?
Borrowed from French beaucoup, early 20th century. Popularized by American GIs during the Vietnam War. The pronunciation /ˈbuːkuː/ was influenced by Louisiana French boucoup, a variant. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list