chipoter

\ʃi.pɔ.te\

/\ʃi.pɔ.te\/ verb

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

The verdict

“chipoter” is uncommon French (frequency #51,351 among 8,609 “C” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,351
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Manger avec réticence ou bouderie ; faire le difficile devant un aliment.

Corpus desk

Index FR-chipoter · chipoter · French

chipoter · rank #51,351 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,351
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH cheque

Nearest frequency peer: cheque (-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 « chipoter »

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 « chipoter » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for chipoter
PropertyValue
Headwordchipoter
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ʃi.pɔ.te\
Letters8
Frequency rank#51,351
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « chipoter » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).chipotertombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « cheque » (#51,350), « chloroforme » (#51,352), « Chennai » (#51,349). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « chipoter » est au #51,351. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

chipoter is uncommon French at frequency #51,351 among 8,609 “C” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed \ʃi.pɔ.te\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for chipoter, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is chipoter, spelled C-H-I-P-O-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Manger avec réticence ou bouderie ; faire le difficile devant un aliment.
  2. 2
    Faire des difficultés pour des riens, ergoter, marchander d’une façon mesquine. Donner à regret ou partiellement.
  3. 3
    Se disputer, se quereller.
  4. 4
    Tergiverser.
  5. 5
    Tripoter, fouiller.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Quelle corvée pour la faire manger, Ninon chipote à chaque bouchée !
  2. Nana chipota la viande, se contenta de sucer l’os.

Synonyms

manger comme un moineaumanger du bout des dentsmanger du bout des lèvrespichorgnerpignocherbarguignerchercher la petite bêtecouper les cheveux en quatreergoterpinaillervétillertaponnerzigonner

This word in other languages

pick at(English)comiscar(Español)herumstochern(Deutsch)

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 "chipoter"?
"chipoter" is spelled C-H-I-P-O-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \ʃi.pɔ.te\.
What does "chipoter" mean?
As a verb, "chipoter" means: Manger avec réticence ou bouderie ; faire le difficile devant un aliment.
How do you pronounce "chipoter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chipoter" is \ʃi.pɔ.te\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "chipoter" come from?
"chipoter" 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 "chipoter", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Cerdagne#51,345Clotaire#51,361cappella#51,336compilés#51,368

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list