détente
dé·tente/deɪˈtɑnt/noun
détente is spelled D-É-T-E-N-T-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (dé·tente). It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,055th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, détente means “Relaxing of tension, especially between countries; (countable) an instance of this” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of détente is detentes or détentes.
How many letters and syllables are in détente?
| Letters | 7: D-É-T-E-N-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: dé·tente |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 69,055th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is détente?
Détente appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,055th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce détente?
- UK /deɪˈtɑːnt/
- UK /-ˈtɒnt/
- US /deɪˈtɑnt/
Détente has 2 syllables, split dé·tente in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-détente.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-detente.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-détente.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with détente?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as détente from its last stressed vowel (/ɑnt/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of détente
- detentes plural
- détentes plural
- detente
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does détente mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Relaxing of tension, especially between countries; (countable) an instance of this.
noun
- 1
Alternative form of détente.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Détente in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense relaxing of tension, especially between countries; an instance of this:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | détente |
| German | Entspannungspolitik |
| Portuguese | détente |
| Spanish | detente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does détente come from?
Unadapted borrowing from French détente (“loosening, relaxing”), from Latin *dētendita, a feminine singular participle of dētendō (“to relax”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘from; of’) + tendō (“to stretch”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tend- (“to stretch”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).