mauvais

/mɔ.vɛ/

//mɔ.vɛ// adj

The verdict

“mauvais” is uncommon Spanish (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency Spanish
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Malo, mal.

Corpus desk

Index ES-mauvais · mauvais · Spanish

mauvais · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "M" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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 mauvais
PropertyValue
Headwordmauvais
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/mɔ.vɛ/
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “mauvais” en español

mauvaisno entra en el top 100.000 del español: zona de términos técnicos, arcaicos o escasos, el terreno típico de la doble comprobación.

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

Rare enough to double-check

mauvais is uncommon Spanish outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /mɔ.vɛ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Malo, mal.".

Zero misspellings are on record for mauvais in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct Spanish form is mauvais, spelled M-A-U-V-A-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Malo, mal.

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 "mauvais"?
"mauvais" is spelled M-A-U-V-A-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is /mɔ.vɛ/.
What does "mauvais" mean?
As an adjective, "mauvais" means: Malo, mal.
How do you pronounce "mauvais"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mauvais" is /mɔ.vɛ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mauvais" come from?
"mauvais" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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