chair de poule

\ʃɛʁ də pul\

/\ʃɛʁ də pul\/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Hérissement des poils de la peau, souvent dans le cou ou sur les bras, causée par le froid (ou la peur, au moins dans la tradition populaire).

Key facts for chair de poule
PropertyValue
Headwordchair de poule
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʃɛʁ də pul\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “chair de poule” sits in French frequency

chair de poule 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.

Rare enough to double-check

chair de poule is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʃɛʁ də pul\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Hérissement des poils de la peau, souvent dans le cou ou sur les bras, causée par le froid (ou la peur, au moins dans la tradition populaire).".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for chair de poule, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is chair de poule, spelled C-H-A-I-R- -D-E- -P-O-U-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Hérissement des poils de la peau, souvent dans le cou ou sur les bras, causée par le froid (ou la peur, au moins dans la tradition populaire).

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 "chair de poule"?
"chair de poule" is spelled C-H-A-I-R- -D-E- -P-O-U-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ʃɛʁ də pul\.
What does "chair de poule" mean?
As a noun, "chair de poule" means: Hérissement des poils de la peau, souvent dans le cou ou sur les bras, causée par le froid (ou la peur, au moins dans la tradition populaire).
How do you pronounce "chair de poule"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chair de poule" is \ʃɛʁ də pul\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "chair de poule" come from?
"chair de poule" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 “chair de poule”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is C-H-A-I-R- -D-E- -P-O-U-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ʃɛʁ də pul\ (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