à l’envers

\a l‿ɑ̃.vɛʁ\

/\a l‿ɑ̃.vɛʁ\/ adv

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dans le sens inverse au sens correct.

Corpus desk

Index FR-a-l-envers · à l’envers · French

à l’envers · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "À" 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 à l’envers
PropertyValue
Headwordà l’envers
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\a l‿ɑ̃.vɛʁ\
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « à l’envers » en français

à l’enversn'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

Rare enough to double-check

à l’envers is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \a l‿ɑ̃.vɛʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for à l’envers in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is à l’envers, spelled À- -L-’-E-N-V-E-R-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Dans le sens inverse au sens correct.
  2. 2
    Du mauvais côté.
  3. 3
    Mal.
  4. 4
    De façon troublée, sans être en entière possession de soi-même.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Dit à l’envers, supercalifragilisticexpidelilicieux fait delilicieuxaliexpilsitkfragilicalisuper.
  2. Préviens ta femme de ton arrivée. Ça me laissera le temps de passer tranquillement mon froc et de ne pas enfiler, dans la précipitation, mon slip à l'envers.

Antonyms

This word in other languages

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 l’envers"?
"à l’envers" is spelled À- -L-’-E-N-V-E-R-S. The IPA pronunciation is \a l‿ɑ̃.vɛʁ\.
What does "à l’envers" mean?
As an adverb, "à l’envers" means: Dans le sens inverse au sens correct.
How do you pronounce "à l’envers"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "à l’envers" is \a l‿ɑ̃.vɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "à l’envers" come from?
"à l’envers" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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