clé de contact

\kle də kɔ̃.takt\

/\kle də kɔ̃.takt\/ noun

The verdict

“clé de contact” 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) - Clé qui sert à faire démarrer le moteur d'un véhicule et à débloquer les systèmes de sécurité anti-vol.

Corpus desk

Index FR-cle-de-contact · clé de contact · French

clé de contact · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 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.

Key facts for clé de contact
PropertyValue
Headwordclé de contact
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kle də kɔ̃.takt\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “clé de contact” sits in French frequency

clé de contact 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

clé de contact is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \kle də kɔ̃.takt\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Clé qui sert à faire démarrer le moteur d'un véhicule et à débloquer les systèmes de sécurité anti-vol.".

Zero misspellings are on record for clé de contact in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is clé de contact, spelled C-L-É- -D-E- -C-O-N-T-A-C-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Clé qui sert à faire démarrer le moteur d'un véhicule et à débloquer les systèmes de sécurité anti-vol.

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "clé de contact"?
"clé de contact" is spelled C-L-É- -D-E- -C-O-N-T-A-C-T. The IPA pronunciation is \kle də kɔ̃.takt\.
What does "clé de contact" mean?
As a noun, "clé de contact" means: Clé qui sert à faire démarrer le moteur d'un véhicule et à débloquer les systèmes de sécurité anti-vol.
How do you pronounce "clé de contact"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "clé de contact" is \kle də kɔ̃.takt\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "clé de contact" come from?
"clé de contact" 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.
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