à haute voix

\a o.tə vwa\

/\a o.tə vwa\/ adv

The verdict

“à haute voix” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as an adverb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - En se faisant clairement entendre.

Key facts for à haute voix
PropertyValue
Headwordà haute voix
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\a o.tə vwa\
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “à haute voix” sits in French frequency

à haute voix 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.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for à haute voix is 12 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \a o.tə vwa\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for à haute voix, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is à haute voix, spelled À- -H-A-U-T-E- -V-O-I-X.

Definition

  1. 1
    En se faisant clairement entendre.
  2. 2
    En lisant.

Synonyms

Antonyms

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 haute voix"?
"à haute voix" is spelled À- -H-A-U-T-E- -V-O-I-X. The IPA pronunciation is \a o.tə vwa\.
What does "à haute voix" mean?
As an adverb, "à haute voix" means: En se faisant clairement entendre.
How do you pronounce "à haute voix"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "à haute voix" is \a o.tə vwa\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "à haute voix" come from?
"à haute voix" 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 haute voix”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is À- -H-A-U-T-E- -V-O-I-X - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \a o.tə vwa\ (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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list