pince-nez
/pænsˈneɪ/
"pince-nez" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pince-nez” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Templeless eyeglasses that clip to the bridge of the nose.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pince-nez · pince-nez · English
pince-nez · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pince-nez |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pænsˈneɪ/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pince-nez” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pince-nez is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /pænsˈneɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Templeless eyeglasses that clip to the bridge of the nose.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for pince-nez in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. 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 pince-nez (literally “pinch-nose”). The correct English form is pince-nez, spelled P-I-N-C-E---N-E-Z.
Definition
- 1Templeless eyeglasses that clip to the bridge of the nose.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pince-nez appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Lord Belpher, leaning against the wall and trying to decide whether his right or left foot hurt him the more excruciatingly, became aware that a curate was standing before him, regarding him through a pair of gold-rimmed pince-nez with a disapproving and hostile expression.
Shabet took a pince-nez from his breast pocket and settled it on the bridge of his nose.
Etymology
Borrowed from French pince-nez (literally “pinch-nose”).
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.