bon sens

\bɔ̃ sɑ̃s\

/\bɔ̃ sɑ̃s\/ noun

The verdict

“bon sens” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Capacité de discerner clairement ce qui est évident, sans en être distrait par d’autres considérations.

Corpus desk

Index FR-bon-sens · bon sens · French

bon sens · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 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.

Key facts for bon sens
PropertyValue
Headwordbon sens
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\bɔ̃ sɑ̃s\
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « bon sens » en français

bon senssiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

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

Rare enough to double-check

bon sens is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \bɔ̃ sɑ̃s\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Capacité de discerner clairement ce qui est évident, sans en être distrait par d’autres considérations.".

No misspelling variants are generated for bon sens in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is bon sens, spelled B-O-N- -S-E-N-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Capacité de discerner clairement ce qui est évident, sans en être distrait par d’autres considérations.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. « Le bon sens est la chose du monde la mieux partagée : car chacun pense en être si bien pourvu, que ceux même qui sont les plus difficiles à contenter en toute autre chose, n’ont point coutume d’en désirer plus qu’ils en ont. En quoi il n’est pas vraisemblable que tous se trompent ; mais plutôt cela témoigne que la puissance de bien juger, et distinguer…
  2. Je n’indiquerai que des mesures simples qui ont déjà été proposées ; car il s’agit moins de créer de brillantes théories que de revenir aux premières notions du bon sens.

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 "bon sens"?
"bon sens" is spelled B-O-N- -S-E-N-S. The IPA pronunciation is \bɔ̃ sɑ̃s\.
What does "bon sens" mean?
As a noun, "bon sens" means: Capacité de discerner clairement ce qui est évident, sans en être distrait par d’autres considérations.
How do you pronounce "bon sens"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bon sens" is \bɔ̃ sɑ̃s\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bon sens" come from?
"bon sens" 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