clin d’œil

\klɛ̃ d‿œj\

/\klɛ̃ d‿œj\/ noun

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

The verdict

“clin d’œil” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Prompt mouvement de la paupière qu’on baisse et qu’on relève au même instant.

Key facts for clin d’œil
PropertyValue
Headwordclin d’œil
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\klɛ̃ d‿œj\
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “clin d’œil” sits in French frequency

clin d’œil 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

clin d’œil is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \klɛ̃ d‿œj\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

clin d’œil doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, 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 spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is clin d’œil, spelled C-L-I-N- -D-’-Œ-I-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Prompt mouvement de la paupière qu’on baisse et qu’on relève au même instant.
  2. 2
    Clignement volontaire d’un œil en signe de connivence.
  3. 3
    Allusion.

Synonyms

œillade;)

This word in other languages

wink(English)guiño(Español)Augenzwinkern(Deutsch)piscada(Português)

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 "clin d’œil"?
"clin d’œil" is spelled C-L-I-N- -D-’-Œ-I-L. The IPA pronunciation is \klɛ̃ d‿œj\.
What does "clin d’œil" mean?
As a noun, "clin d’œil" means: Prompt mouvement de la paupière qu’on baisse et qu’on relève au même instant.
How do you pronounce "clin d’œil"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "clin d’œil" is \klɛ̃ d‿œj\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "clin d’œil" come from?
"clin d’œil" 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 “clin d’œil”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is C-L-I-N- -D-’-Œ-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \klɛ̃ d‿œj\ (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