amour-propre

\a.muʁ.pʁɔpʁ\

/\a.muʁ.pʁɔpʁ\/ noun

The verdict

“amour-propre” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. 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) - Importance que l’être humain attache à ce qui lui est personnel, opinion trop avantageuse qu’il a de lui-même.

Corpus desk

Index FR-amour-propre · amour-propre · French

amour-propre · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "A" 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 amour-propre
PropertyValue
Headwordamour-propre
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\a.muʁ.pʁɔpʁ\
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « amour-propre » en français

amour-propresiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

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

Rare enough to double-check

amour-propre is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \a.muʁ.pʁɔpʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for amour-propre in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is amour-propre, spelled A-M-O-U-R---P-R-O-P-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Importance que l’être humain attache à ce qui lui est personnel, opinion trop avantageuse qu’il a de lui-même.
  2. 2
    Sentiment légitime et nécessaire qui attache chaque personne à son existence et lui fait rechercher son bien-être.
  3. 3
    Égoïsme.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how amour-propre appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Ce n’est pas seulement à chaque individu que la nature a distribué les dons heureux d’amour-propre ; chaque peuple, chaque nation, chaque ville même en a reçu une assez bonne dose.
  2. Ce n’est qu’en 1913 — avec l’élection de M. Raymond Poincaré à l’Élysée et la désignation de M. Millerand au Ministère de la Guerre — qu’une véritable éruption d’amour-propre national, ou plutôt nationaliste, recouvre la France, plus exactement la presse française, soignée par le gouvernement.

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 "amour-propre"?
"amour-propre" is spelled A-M-O-U-R---P-R-O-P-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \a.muʁ.pʁɔpʁ\.
What does "amour-propre" mean?
As a noun, "amour-propre" means: Importance que l’être humain attache à ce qui lui est personnel, opinion trop avantageuse qu’il a de lui-même.
How do you pronounce "amour-propre"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "amour-propre" is \a.muʁ.pʁɔpʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "amour-propre" come from?
"amour-propre" 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list