avoir les pieds sur terre

\a.vwaʁ le pje syʁ tɛʁ\

/\a.vwaʁ le pje syʁ tɛʁ\/ verb

The verdict

“avoir les pieds sur terre” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
25
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Être réaliste.

Corpus desk

Index FR-avoir-les-pieds-sur-terr · avoir les pieds sur terre · French

avoir les pieds sur terre · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 25 letters
  • VOW-9 9 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 avoir les pieds sur terre
PropertyValue
Headwordavoir les pieds sur terre
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\a.vwaʁ le pje syʁ tɛʁ\
Letters25
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « avoir les pieds sur terre » en français

avoir les pieds sur terrereste 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

avoir les pieds sur terre is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \a.vwaʁ le pje syʁ tɛʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for avoir les pieds sur terre, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is avoir les pieds sur terre, spelled A-V-O-I-R- -L-E-S- -P-I-E-D-S- -S-U-R- -T-E-R-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Être réaliste.
  2. 2
    Avoir du bon sens.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how avoir les pieds sur terre appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Qu’il ne comprenne pas la différence entre un projet et un rêve ! Ce garçon, au fond, n’avait pas les pieds sur terre, quelque chose qu’on devait voir souvent chez les riches, comme si la réalité ne les concernait pas.
  2. avoir les pieds sur terre

Antonyms

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 "avoir les pieds sur terre"?
"avoir les pieds sur terre" is spelled A-V-O-I-R- -L-E-S- -P-I-E-D-S- -S-U-R- -T-E-R-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \a.vwaʁ le pje syʁ tɛʁ\.
What does "avoir les pieds sur terre" mean?
As a verb, "avoir les pieds sur terre" means: Être réaliste.
How do you pronounce "avoir les pieds sur terre"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "avoir les pieds sur terre" is \a.vwaʁ le pje syʁ tɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "avoir les pieds sur terre" come from?
"avoir les pieds sur terre" 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