chicaner

\ʃi.ka.ne\

/\ʃi.ka.ne\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“chicaner” is uncommon French (frequency #68,908 among 8,609 “C” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#68,908
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Soulever, dans un procès, un point mineur de droit pour embrouiller l’affaire.

Corpus desk

Index FR-chicaner · chicaner · French

chicaner · rank #68,908 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #68,908
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH chialent

Nearest frequency peer: chialent (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « chicaner »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « chicaner » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for chicaner
PropertyValue
Headwordchicaner
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ʃi.ka.ne\
Letters8
Frequency rank#68,908
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « chicaner » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).chicanertombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « chialent » (#68,907), « chienlit » (#68,909), « chercherons » (#68,906). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « chicaner » est au #68,908. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

chicaner is uncommon French at frequency #68,908 among 8,609 “C” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed \ʃi.ka.ne\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 8 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for chicaner in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. 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 entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is chicaner, spelled C-H-I-C-A-N-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Soulever, dans un procès, un point mineur de droit pour embrouiller l’affaire.
  2. 2
    Créer des difficultés.
  3. 3
    Serrer le vent le plus près possible, comme en lui disputant, parce qu’il est défavorable, une pleine action sur les voiles.
  4. 4
    Se servir de subtilités captieuses, contester sans fondement, en quelque matière que ce soit.
  5. 5
    Chercher noise à quelqu’un.
  6. 6
    Reprendre, critiquer mal à propos et sur des bagatelles.
  7. 7
    Se chamailler, se quereller.
  8. 8
    Gronder, admonester, enguirlander.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Item, à maistre Jehan Cotard, Mon procureur en Court d’Eglise, Devoye environ ung patard, Car à present bien m’en advise, Quant chicanner me feit Denise, Disant que l’avoye mauldite; Pour son ame, qu’ès cieulx soit mise! Ceste Oraison j’ay cy escripte.
  2. Chicaner le terrain, le disputer pied à pied.

Synonyms

pinaillerchicaillercoltailler

This word in other languages

quibble(English)disputar(Español)schikanieren(Deutsch)aperrear(Português)

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

How do you spell "chicaner"?
"chicaner" is spelled C-H-I-C-A-N-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \ʃi.ka.ne\.
What does "chicaner" mean?
As a verb, "chicaner" means: Soulever, dans un procès, un point mineur de droit pour embrouiller l’affaire.
How do you pronounce "chicaner"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chicaner" is \ʃi.ka.ne\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "chicaner" come from?
"chicaner" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "chicaner", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

chialent#68,907chienlit#68,909charnels#68,902charlots#68,901

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list