bien-pensant
\bjɛ̃.pɑ̃.sɑ̃\
The verdict
“bien-pensant” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui a de bons sentiments.
Corpus desk
Index FR-bien-pensant · bien-pensant · French
bien-pensant · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" 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 | bien-pensant |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \bjɛ̃.pɑ̃.sɑ̃\ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « bien-pensant » en français
Rare enough to double-check
bien-pensant is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \bjɛ̃.pɑ̃.sɑ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for bien-pensant, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is bien-pensant, spelled B-I-E-N---P-E-N-S-A-N-T.
Definition
- 1Qui a de bons sentiments.
- 2Conformiste, qui pense correctement, selon les codes en vigueur, bien formaté.
- 3Vertueux, qui s'aligne sur la morale ambiante, avec bonne conscience.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bien-pensant appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Tout ce qui ne charme que les yeux, attire à peine mes regards ; je ne m'arrête qu'à l'intérieur à l'âme, à ce qui nous procure le vrai contentement, la paix intérieure, et c'est précisément ce qui manque dans une ville aussi tumultueuse que Paris. Ah ! que ne pouvons nous enfin voir se réaliser le vœux^([sic]) que nous formons depuis si longtems de passe…
La bourgeoisie bien-pensante.
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.