clé USB

\kle y.ɛs.be\

/\kle y.ɛs.be\/ noun

The verdict

“clé USB” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Dispositif portable de stockage de données informatiques ayant la taille d’une clé, qui se branche sur un port informatique de type USB.

Key facts for clé USB
PropertyValue
Headwordclé USB
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kle y.ɛs.be\
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “clé USB” sits in French frequency

clé USB 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.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for clé USB is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \kle y.ɛs.be\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Dispositif portable de stockage de données informatiques ayant la taille d’une clé, qui se branche sur un port informatique de type USB.".

No misspelling variants are generated for clé USB in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is clé USB, spelled C-L-É- -U-S-B, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Dispositif portable de stockage de données informatiques ayant la taille d’une clé, qui se branche sur un port informatique de type USB.

Synonyms

lecteur flashmémorette

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.

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:

PlainSpell, “clé USB, French word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/fr/mot/cle-usb

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "clé USB"?
"clé USB" is spelled C-L-É- -U-S-B. The IPA pronunciation is \kle y.ɛs.be\.
What does "clé USB" mean?
As a noun, "clé USB" means: Dispositif portable de stockage de données informatiques ayant la taille d’une clé, qui se branche sur un port informatique de type USB.
How do you pronounce "clé USB"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "clé USB" is \kle y.ɛs.be\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "clé USB" come from?
"clé USB" 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 “clé USB”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is C-L-É- -U-S-B - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \kle y.ɛs.be\ (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

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list