à couteaux tirés

\a ku.to ti.ʁe\

/\a ku.to ti.ʁe\/ adv

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

The verdict

“à couteaux tirés” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - En grande inimitié avec quelqu’un ; dans un climat d’affrontement ou d’hostilité.

Key facts for à couteaux tirés
PropertyValue
Headwordà couteaux tirés
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\a ku.to ti.ʁe\
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “à couteaux tirés” sits in French frequency

à couteaux tirés falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

à couteaux tirés is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \a ku.to ti.ʁe\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

à couteaux tirés has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is à couteaux tirés, spelled À- -C-O-U-T-E-A-U-X- -T-I-R-É-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    En grande inimitié avec quelqu’un ; dans un climat d’affrontement ou d’hostilité.
  2. 2
    Pour dire que ce n’est pas si joyeux que ça.

This word in other languages

at daggers drawn(English)

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 "à couteaux tirés"?
"à couteaux tirés" is spelled À- -C-O-U-T-E-A-U-X- -T-I-R-É-S. The IPA pronunciation is \a ku.to ti.ʁe\.
What does "à couteaux tirés" mean?
As an adverb, "à couteaux tirés" means: En grande inimitié avec quelqu’un ; dans un climat d’affrontement ou d’hostilité.
How do you pronounce "à couteaux tirés"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "à couteaux tirés" is \a ku.to ti.ʁe\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "à couteaux tirés" come from?
"à couteaux tirés" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Using “à couteaux tirés”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is À- -C-O-U-T-E-A-U-X- -T-I-R-É-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \a ku.to ti.ʁe\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list