risqué

/ˈɹɪskeɪ/

//ˈɹɪskeɪ// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"risque" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“risqué” is uncommon English (frequency #57,683 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,683
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Slightly sexually suggestive; bordering on indelicate.

Corpus desk

Index EN-risque · risqué · English

risqué · rank #57,683 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,683
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH ripoff

Nearest frequency peer: ripoff (-3 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 “risqué”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for risqué
PropertyValue
Headwordrisqué
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈɹɪskeɪ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#57,683
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “risqué” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).risquéfalls 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: “ripoff” (#57,680), “Romulan” (#57,686), “rightist” (#57,678). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “risqué” is #57,683. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

risqué is uncommon English at frequency #57,683 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈɹɪskeɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Slightly sexually suggestive; bordering on indelicate.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for risqué, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French risqué (“risky”), an adjective use of the past participle of risquer (“to put at risk; to risk”), from risque (“risk”, noun) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs). Risque is derived from Old Italian risco (“risk”… The correct English form is risqué, spelled R-I-S-Q-U-É.

Definition

  1. 1
    Slightly sexually suggestive; bordering on indelicate.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. [S]he was angry with herself; and, for that, sang the more loudly the most wicked and risqué of her slang songs, that gave the morals of a Messalina in the language of a fish-wife, and yet had an inalienable, mischievous, contagious, dauntless French grace in it withal.
  2. Never blame society,—it buys books! Now if you could write a smart love-story, slightly risqué,—even a little more than risqué for that matter; that is the sort of thing that suits the present age.

Etymology

Borrowed from French risqué (“risky”), an adjective use of the past participle of risquer (“to put at risk; to risk”), from risque (“risk”, noun) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs). Risque is derived from Old Italian risco (“risk”) (modern Italian rischio), possibly a deverbal from resecare or from Vulgar Latin *resecum, both from Latin resecō (“to cut loose or off, etc.”), from re- (intensifying prefix) + secō (“to cut; to cut off”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut; to cut off, sever”)).

This word in other languages

atrevido(Español)risqué(Français)gewagt(Deutsch)malicioso(Português)

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 "risqué"?
"risqué" is spelled R-I-S-Q-U-É. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɹɪskeɪ/.
What does "risqué" mean?
As an adjective, "risqué" means: Slightly sexually suggestive; bordering on indelicate.
How do you pronounce "risqué"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "risqué" is /ˈɹɪskeɪ/. 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 "risqué"?
Borrowed from French risqué (“risky”), an adjective use of the past participle of risquer (“to put at risk; to risk”), from risque (“risk”, noun) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs). Risque is derived from Old Italian ris... 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 "risqué", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ripoff#57,680Ruthie#57,691Scania#57,698rafale#57,658

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list