à première vue

\a pʁə.mjɛʁ vy\

/\a pʁə.mjɛʁ vy\/ adv

The verdict

“à première vue” 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
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Au premier aspect ; à la première inspection.

Key facts for à première vue
PropertyValue
Headwordà première vue
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\a pʁə.mjɛʁ vy\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “à première vue” sits in French frequency

à première vue 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 première vue is 14 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \a pʁə.mjɛʁ vy\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

à première vue doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is à première vue, spelled À- -P-R-E-M-I-È-R-E- -V-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Au premier aspect ; à la première inspection.
  2. 2
    Sans l’avoir préalablement étudié, en parlant d’un morceau de musique que l’on joue.
  3. 3
    Au premier examen.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "à première vue"?
"à première vue" is spelled À- -P-R-E-M-I-È-R-E- -V-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is \a pʁə.mjɛʁ vy\.
What does "à première vue" mean?
As an adverb, "à première vue" means: Au premier aspect ; à la première inspection.
How do you pronounce "à première vue"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "à première vue" is \a pʁə.mjɛʁ vy\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "à première vue" come from?
"à première vue" 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 première vue”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is À- -P-R-E-M-I-È-R-E- -V-U-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \a pʁə.mjɛʁ vy\ (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