à l’envi

\a l‿ɑ̃.vi\

/\a l‿ɑ̃.vi\/ adv

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

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Autant que possible en s’encourageant mutuellement et en tentant de surpasser les autres.

Key facts for à l’envi
PropertyValue
Headwordà l’envi
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\a l‿ɑ̃.vi\
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “à l’envi” sits in French frequency

à l’envi 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 l’envi is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \a l‿ɑ̃.vi\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

à l’envi doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, 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 l’envi, spelled À- -L-’-E-N-V-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    Autant que possible en s’encourageant mutuellement et en tentant de surpasser les autres.
  2. 2
    En émulation, en rivalité avec.

Synonyms

à qui mieux mieuxautant que faire se peut

Antonyms

sans conviction

This word in other languages

um die Wette(Deutsch)

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’envi"?
"à l’envi" is spelled À- -L-’-E-N-V-I. The IPA pronunciation is \a l‿ɑ̃.vi\.
What does "à l’envi" mean?
As an adverb, "à l’envi" means: Autant que possible en s’encourageant mutuellement et en tentant de surpasser les autres.
How do you pronounce "à l’envi"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "à l’envi" is \a l‿ɑ̃.vi\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "à l’envi" come from?
"à l’envi" is a French 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.

Using “à l’envi”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is À- -L-’-E-N-V-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \a l‿ɑ̃.vi\ (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