à la dérobée
\a la de.ʁɔ.be\
The verdict
“à la dérobée” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Secrètement, avec une sorte de mystère.
Corpus desk
Index FR-a-la-derobee · à la dérobée · French
à la dérobée · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-6 6 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | à la dérobée |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \a la de.ʁɔ.be\ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « à la dérobée » en français
Rare enough to double-check
à la dérobée is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \a la de.ʁɔ.be\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Secrètement, avec une sorte de mystère.".
No misspelling variants are generated for à la dérobée in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. 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.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is à la dérobée, spelled À- -L-A- -D-É-R-O-B-É-E.
Definition
- 1Secrètement, avec une sorte de mystère.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how à la dérobée appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[…], elle regardait parfois le lieutenant à la dérobée, sans pouvoir pénétrer au delà de ce dur épiderme.
Tout à la fois joyeux et mélancolique, le jeune Anglais détourna la tête, et n’osa regarder Julie qu’à la dérobée.
Synonyms
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.