au diable
\o djɑbl\
The verdict
“au 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
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Excessivement loin ; loin de tout.
Corpus desk
Index FR-au-diable · au diable · French
au diable · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | au diable |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \o djɑbl\ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « au diable » en français
Rare enough to double-check
au diable is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \o djɑbl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for au diable, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is au diable, spelled A-U- -D-I-A-B-L-E.
Definition
- 1Excessivement loin ; loin de tout.
- 2Se dit pour maudire, rebuter, repousser, renvoyer avec colère, avec indignation.
- 3À vau-l’eau ; en javelle.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how au diable appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Le pilote parvint à se poser à temps : ni lui, ni son mécanicien ne furent atteint par les flammes. Mais ils étaient au diable, sans eau ni vivres, dans une région en dissidence.
Pour des jeunes, Lyon, ce n’est pas au diable…
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.