plaidoyer

/pleɪdwaˈjeɪ/

//pleɪdwaˈjeɪ// noun

"plaidoyer" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“plaidoyer” 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) - An act of pleading; a plea.

Corpus desk

Index EN-plaidoyer · plaidoyer · English

plaidoyer · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 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.

Key facts for plaidoyer
PropertyValue
Headwordplaidoyer
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pleɪdwaˈjeɪ/
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “plaidoyer” in English

plaidoyersits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

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

Rare enough to double-check

plaidoyer is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /pleɪdwaˈjeɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An act of pleading; a plea.".

No misspelling variants are generated for plaidoyer in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French plaidoyer. The correct English form is plaidoyer, spelled P-L-A-I-D-O-Y-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    An act of pleading; a plea.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. In this plaidoyer for culture, I will argue that cultural differences are reflected in language in profound ways […]

Etymology

Borrowed from French plaidoyer.

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 "plaidoyer"?
"plaidoyer" is spelled P-L-A-I-D-O-Y-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /pleɪdwaˈjeɪ/.
What does "plaidoyer" mean?
As a noun, "plaidoyer" means: An act of pleading; a plea.
How do you pronounce "plaidoyer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "plaidoyer" is /pleɪdwaˈjeɪ/. 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 "plaidoyer"?
Borrowed from French plaidoyer. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list