chien de garde

\ʃjɛ̃ də ɡaʁd\

/\ʃjɛ̃ də ɡaʁd\/ noun

The verdict

“chien de garde” 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) - Chien dressé pour garder un lieu, dont le rôle est de veiller sur une maison, une propriété.

Key facts for chien de garde
PropertyValue
Headwordchien de garde
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʃjɛ̃ də ɡaʁd\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “chien de garde” sits in French frequency

chien de garde 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

chien de garde is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʃjɛ̃ də ɡaʁd\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for chien de garde, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is chien de garde, spelled C-H-I-E-N- -D-E- -G-A-R-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Chien dressé pour garder un lieu, dont le rôle est de veiller sur une maison, une propriété.
  2. 2
    Personne ou entité qui veille sur quelque chose.
  3. 3
    Personnage médiatique (journaliste, éditorialiste…) mettant sa notoriété au service de l'ordre établi.
  4. 4
    Horloge de surveillance, registre d’horloge qui surveille l’état d’un signal ou d’une unité fonctionnelle afin de déceler les périodes d’inactivité ou les temps de réponse qui dépassent une durée spécifiée. Termes et définition normalisés par l’ISO/CÉI 2382-14:1997.

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 "chien de garde"?
"chien de garde" is spelled C-H-I-E-N- -D-E- -G-A-R-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ʃjɛ̃ də ɡaʁd\.
What does "chien de garde" mean?
As a noun, "chien de garde" means: Chien dressé pour garder un lieu, dont le rôle est de veiller sur une maison, une propriété.
How do you pronounce "chien de garde"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chien de garde" is \ʃjɛ̃ də ɡaʁd\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "chien de garde" come from?
"chien de garde" 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 “chien de garde”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is C-H-I-E-N- -D-E- -G-A-R-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ʃjɛ̃ də ɡaʁd\ (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