apocryphe

\a.pɔ.kʁif\

/\a.pɔ.kʁif\/ adj

The verdict

“apocryphe” is uncommon French (frequency #50,061 among 6,727 “A” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,061
frequency rank, French
6,727
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Que l’Église ne tient pas pour canonique.

Corpus desk

Index FR-apocryphe · apocryphe · French

apocryphe · rank #50,061 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,061
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,727
  • PHOTO-FINISH apparts

Nearest frequency peer: apparts (+1 rank slots)

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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « apocryphe »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « apocryphe » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for apocryphe
PropertyValue
Headwordapocryphe
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\a.pɔ.kʁif\
Letters9
Frequency rank#50,061
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « apocryphe » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).apocryphetombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « apparts » (#50,062), « anode » (#50,059), « argan » (#50,063). Parmi 6,727 lemmes en « A », « apocryphe » est au #50,061. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

apocryphe is uncommon French at frequency #50,061 among 6,727 “A” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \a.pɔ.kʁif\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

apocryphe doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is apocryphe, spelled A-P-O-C-R-Y-P-H-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Que l’Église ne tient pas pour canonique.
  2. 2
    Qualifie des écrits dont l’autorité est suspecte, des livres, des histoires dont l’authenticité n’est pas établie.
  3. 3
    Qualifie une information, une nouvelle dont on doute, à laquelle on ne peut guère ajouter foi.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Les troisième et quatrième livres d’Esdras sont apocryphes.
  2. De la part de l’Église catholique, avouer que Daniel est un apocryphe du temps des Macchabées serait avouer qu’elle s’est trompée ; si elle s’est trompée en cela, elle a pu se tromper en autre chose ; elle n’est plus divinement inspirée.

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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "apocryphe"?
"apocryphe" is spelled A-P-O-C-R-Y-P-H-E. The IPA pronunciation is \a.pɔ.kʁif\.
What does "apocryphe" mean?
As an adjective, "apocryphe" means: Que l’Église ne tient pas pour canonique.
How do you pronounce "apocryphe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "apocryphe" is \a.pɔ.kʁif\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "apocryphe" come from?
"apocryphe" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "apocryphe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list