charivari
\ʃa.ʁi.va.ʁi\
The verdict
“charivari” is uncommon French (frequency #63,617 among 257,141 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #63,617
- frequency rank, French
- 257,141
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Bruit tumultueux de poêles, chaudrons, etc., accompagné de cris et de huées, que l’on faisait à la suite d’un mariage jugé mal assorti ou inconvenant, par exemple dans le cas de veufs ou des veuves...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | charivari |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ʃa.ʁi.va.ʁi\ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #63,617 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “charivari” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
charivari is uncommon French at frequency #63,617 among 257,141 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʃa.ʁi.va.ʁi\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
charivari has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is charivari, spelled C-H-A-R-I-V-A-R-I.
Definition
- 1Bruit tumultueux de poêles, chaudrons, etc., accompagné de cris et de huées, que l’on faisait à la suite d’un mariage jugé mal assorti ou inconvenant, par exemple dans le cas de veufs ou des veuves âgées qui se remariaient.
- 2Tout bruit par lequel des gens attroupés témoignent à quelqu’un leur désapprobation.
- 3Toute sorte de criailleries ou de querelles.
- 4Musique bruyante et discordante.
- 5Désordre de couleurs et de formes.
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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “charivari”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-H-A-R-I-V-A-R-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ʃa.ʁi.va.ʁi\ (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
Other uncommon French words near this rank
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.