à la diable
\a la djɑbl\
The verdict
“à la diable” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui a un caractère de violence et d’exagération.
Corpus desk
Index FR-a-la-diable · à la diable · French
à la diable · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 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 diable |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \a la djɑbl\ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « à la diable » en français
Rare enough to double-check
à la diable is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \a la djɑbl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
à la diable doesn't appear in our generated misspelling 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, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
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 diable, spelled À- -L-A- -D-I-A-B-L-E.
Definition
- 1Qui a un caractère de violence et d’exagération.
- 2Qualifie certaines recettes comportant une sauce piquante.
- 3D’une façon désordonnée, à la hâte, sans soin.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how à la diable appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Les Anglais disent que toutes nos tragédies sont à la glace ; il pourrait bien en être quelque chose ; mais les leurs sont à la diable.
Un autre fantaisiste de bonne marque, c'est Boyer d'Agen, l'auteur de Monsieur le Rédacteur. C'est ce roman à la diable mais non pas écrit à la diable: il y a le panorama universel des caractères contemporains. Beaucoup de pages bien curieuses, mais c'est la tour de Babel et le Labyrinthe.
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.