chef de file
\ʃɛf də fil\
The verdict
“chef de file” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Meneur.
Corpus desk
Index FR-chef-de-file · chef de file · French
chef de file · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | chef de file |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ʃɛf də fil\ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « chef de file » en français
Rare enough to double-check
chef de file is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʃɛf də fil\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
chef de file doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is chef de file, spelled C-H-E-F- -D-E- -F-I-L-E.
Definition
- 1Meneur.
- 2Établissement bancaire dirigeant une opération financière, assurant les relations entre une entreprise cliente et les autres banquiers de celle-ci, et agissant vis-à-vis des tiers.
- 3Entreprise à l'avant-garde dans son domaine.
- 4Tête de série.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how chef de file appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Chef de file du mouvement zazou, Charles Trenet n’adhérera pas pour autant à la révolution be-bop qui déferle à la Libération.
À l’instar de Jeanne d’Arc, mascotte guerrière de son mouvement, la chef de file du Front national,entend des voix – des témoignages ! – qui lui disent de sauver la France en combattant non plus les Anglais, comme sa prédécesseur, non plus les immigrés en général comme son père, mais les musulmans,et pour cela elle doit se porter au secours des femmes, de…
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.