brûler les ponts

\bʁy.le le pɔ̃\

/\bʁy.le le pɔ̃\/ verb

The verdict

“brûler les ponts” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - S’engager dans une affaire, dans une entreprise, de manière à s’ôter tout moyen d’y renoncer ou de s’en désister.

Key facts for brûler les ponts
PropertyValue
Headwordbrûler les ponts
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\bʁy.le le pɔ̃\
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “brûler les ponts” sits in French frequency

brûler les ponts falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for brûler les ponts is 16 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \bʁy.le le pɔ̃\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "S’engager dans une affaire, dans une entreprise, de manière à s’ôter tout moyen d’y renoncer ou de s’en désister.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for brûler les ponts in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

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 brûler les ponts, spelled B-R-Û-L-E-R- -L-E-S- -P-O-N-T-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    S’engager dans une affaire, dans une entreprise, de manière à s’ôter tout moyen d’y renoncer ou de s’en désister.

Synonyms

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 "brûler les ponts"?
"brûler les ponts" is spelled B-R-Û-L-E-R- -L-E-S- -P-O-N-T-S. The IPA pronunciation is \bʁy.le le pɔ̃\.
What does "brûler les ponts" mean?
As a verb, "brûler les ponts" means: S’engager dans une affaire, dans une entreprise, de manière à s’ôter tout moyen d’y renoncer ou de s’en désister.
How do you pronounce "brûler les ponts"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "brûler les ponts" is \bʁy.le le pɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "brûler les ponts" come from?
"brûler les ponts" 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.

Using “brûler les ponts”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is B-R-Û-L-E-R- -L-E-S- -P-O-N-T-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \bʁy.le le pɔ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list