au petit bonheur la chance

Name: au petit bonheur la chance, French Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

\o p(ə).ti bɔ.nœʁ la ʃɑ̃s\

/\o p(ə).ti bɔ.nœʁ la ʃɑ̃s\/ adv

By PlainSpell Editorial Team · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“au petit bonheur la chance” 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: 26
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - À l’aventure, au hasard, à tout hasard.

Key facts for au petit bonheur la chance
Property	Value
Headword	au petit bonheur la chance
Language	French
Part of speech	Adverb
IPA	\o p(ə).ti bɔ.nœʁ la ʃɑ̃s\
Letters	26
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “au petit bonheur la chance” sits in French frequency

au petit bonheur la chance 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 au petit bonheur la chance is 26 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \o p(ə).ti bɔ.nœʁ la ʃɑ̃s\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "À l’aventure, au hasard, à tout hasard.".

au petit bonheur la chance doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No documented word history exists 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 au petit bonheur la chance, spelled A-U- -P-E-T-I-T- -B-O-N-H-E-U-R- -L-A- -C-H-A-N-C-E.

Definition

1
À l’aventure, au hasard, à tout hasard.

This word in other languages

anyhow(English)querbeet(Deutsch)

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 "au petit bonheur la chance"?

"au petit bonheur la chance" is spelled A-U- -P-E-T-I-T- -B-O-N-H-E-U-R- -L-A- -C-H-A-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \o p(ə).ti bɔ.nœʁ la ʃɑ̃s\.

What does "au petit bonheur la chance" mean?

As an adverb, "au petit bonheur la chance" means: À l’aventure, au hasard, à tout hasard.

How do you pronounce "au petit bonheur la chance"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "au petit bonheur la chance" is \o p(ə).ti bɔ.nœʁ la ʃɑ̃s\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What language does "au petit bonheur la chance" come from?

"au petit bonheur la chance" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.

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 “au petit bonheur la chance”

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

The one correct French spelling is A-U- -P-E-T-I-T- -B-O-N-H-E-U-R- -L-A- -C-H-A-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as \o p(ə).ti bɔ.nœʁ la ʃɑ̃s\ (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.