chronic

\ˈkɹɒn.ɪk\

/\ˈkɹɒn.ɪk\/ adj

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

The verdict

“chronic” is uncommon French (frequency #72,179 among 8,609 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,179
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Chronique (problème que se prolonge pendant une durée importante).

Corpus desk

Index FR-chronic · chronic · French

chronic · rank #72,179 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,179
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH churros

Nearest frequency peer: churros (+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 « chronic »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for chronic
PropertyValue
Headwordchronic
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ˈkɹɒn.ɪk\
Letters7
Frequency rank#72,179
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « chronic » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).chronictombe 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: « churros » (#72,180), « chus » (#72,181), « chinchilla » (#72,176). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « chronic » est au #72,179. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

chronic is uncommon French at frequency #72,179 among 8,609 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ˈkɹɒn.ɪk\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.

chronic doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is chronic, spelled C-H-R-O-N-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Chronique (problème que se prolonge pendant une durée importante).
  2. 2
    Chronique (en parlant d’une maladie ou d’un symptôme).
  3. 3
    Chronique (en parlant d’un patient souffrant d’une affection longue à guérir).
  4. 4
    Invétéré
  5. 5
    Très mauvais, terrible.
  6. 6
    Extrêmement sérieux.
  7. 7
    Bien, super.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. a chronic liar

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 "chronic"?
"chronic" is spelled C-H-R-O-N-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈkɹɒn.ɪk\.
What does "chronic" mean?
As an adjective, "chronic" means: Chronique (problème que se prolonge pendant une durée importante).
How do you pronounce "chronic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chronic" is \ˈkɹɒn.ɪk\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "chronic" come from?
"chronic" 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 "chronic", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

churros#72,180clapets#72,188clarins#72,189Clauzel#72,192

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list