avant-coureur

\a.vɑ̃.ku.ʁœʁ\

/\a.vɑ̃.ku.ʁœʁ\/ adj

The verdict

“avant-coureur” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui annonce ou présage quelque chose qui doit lui succéder, ou arriver prochainement.

Corpus desk

Index FR-avant-coureur · avant-coureur · French

avant-coureur · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 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 avant-coureur
PropertyValue
Headwordavant-coureur
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\a.vɑ̃.ku.ʁœʁ\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « avant-coureur » en français

avant-coureurreste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

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

Rare enough to double-check

avant-coureur is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \a.vɑ̃.ku.ʁœʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Qui annonce ou présage quelque chose qui doit lui succéder, ou arriver prochainement.".

Zero misspellings are on record for avant-coureur in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is avant-coureur, spelled A-V-A-N-T---C-O-U-R-E-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui annonce ou présage quelque chose qui doit lui succéder, ou arriver prochainement.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Un grand silence enveloppait les campagnes, le silence d’automne, avant-coureur du sommeil hivernal.
  2. Voici les signes avant-coureurs de la mort : dans les accès de folie, la phase du rire, fatale ; dans la démence, le geste répétitif d’effranger et de froisser les draps du lit, […].

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 "avant-coureur"?
"avant-coureur" is spelled A-V-A-N-T---C-O-U-R-E-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is \a.vɑ̃.ku.ʁœʁ\.
What does "avant-coureur" mean?
As an adjective, "avant-coureur" means: Qui annonce ou présage quelque chose qui doit lui succéder, ou arriver prochainement.
How do you pronounce "avant-coureur"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "avant-coureur" is \a.vɑ̃.ku.ʁœʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "avant-coureur" come from?
"avant-coureur" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list