bric-à-brac

\bʁi.ka.bʁak\

/\bʁi.ka.bʁak\/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Objets, meubles, ferraille, ustensiles, tableaux, de provenances et d'époques diverses ramassés pour être revendus.

Corpus desk

Index FR-bric-a-brac · bric-à-brac · French

bric-à-brac · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-3 3 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 bric-à-brac
PropertyValue
Headwordbric-à-brac
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\bʁi.ka.bʁak\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « bric-à-brac » en français

bric-à-bracn'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

Rare enough to double-check

bric-à-brac is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \bʁi.ka.bʁak\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for bric-à-brac in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is bric-à-brac, spelled B-R-I-C---À---B-R-A-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Objets, meubles, ferraille, ustensiles, tableaux, de provenances et d'époques diverses ramassés pour être revendus.
  2. 2
    Boutique de brocanteur.
  3. 3
    Objets divers entassés sans ordre.
  4. 4
    Ensemble hétéroclite de connaissances ou d'idées réunies sans lien entre elles.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ce chef-d’œuvre est exposé chez un des marchands de bric-à-brac dont les boutiques sont sur la place du Carrousel, près de ma maison.
  2. Un Petit Dunkerque est une sorte de bazar de fines porcelaines et de curiosités artistiques, de charmantes et délicates inutilités , qui en font un bric-à-brac fashionable.

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 "bric-à-brac"?
"bric-à-brac" is spelled B-R-I-C---À---B-R-A-C. The IPA pronunciation is \bʁi.ka.bʁak\.
What does "bric-à-brac" mean?
As a noun, "bric-à-brac" means: Objets, meubles, ferraille, ustensiles, tableaux, de provenances et d'époques diverses ramassés pour être revendus.
How do you pronounce "bric-à-brac"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bric-à-brac" is \bʁi.ka.bʁak\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bric-à-brac" come from?
"bric-à-brac" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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