comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine

\kɔm‿œ̃.n‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃.z‿œ̃ ma.ɡa.zɛ̃ də pɔʁ.sə.lɛn\

/\kɔm‿œ̃.n‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃.z‿œ̃ ma.ɡa.zɛ̃ də pɔʁ.sə.lɛn\/ adv

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

The verdict

“comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
47
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Très maladroitement, de façon très maladroite.

Key facts for comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine
PropertyValue
Headwordcomme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\kɔm‿œ̃.n‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃.z‿œ̃ ma.ɡa.zɛ̃ də pɔʁ.sə.lɛn\
Letters47
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine” sits in French frequency

comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine 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

comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \kɔm‿œ̃.n‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃.z‿œ̃ ma.ɡa.zɛ̃ də pɔʁ.sə.lɛn\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. 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.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine, spelled C-O-M-M-E- -U-N- -É-L-É-P-H-A-N-T- -D-A-N-S- -U-N- -M-A-G-A-S-I-N- -D-E- -P-O-R-C-E-L-A-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Très maladroitement, de façon très maladroite.
  2. 2
    Sans aucune finesse.

Synonyms

comme un chien dans un jeu de quilles

This word in other languages

like a bull in a china shop(English)sich wie ein Elefant im Porzellanladen benehmen(Deutsch)

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 "comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine"?
"comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine" is spelled C-O-M-M-E- -U-N- -É-L-É-P-H-A-N-T- -D-A-N-S- -U-N- -M-A-G-A-S-I-N- -D-E- -P-O-R-C-E-L-A-I-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔm‿œ̃.n‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃.z‿œ̃ ma.ɡa.zɛ̃ də pɔʁ.sə.lɛn\.
What does "comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine" mean?
As an adverb, "comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine" means: Très maladroitement, de façon très maladroite.
How do you pronounce "comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine" is \kɔm‿œ̃.n‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃.z‿œ̃ ma.ɡa.zɛ̃ də pɔʁ.sə.lɛn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine" come from?
"comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine" 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.

Using “comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is C-O-M-M-E- -U-N- -É-L-É-P-H-A-N-T- -D-A-N-S- -U-N- -M-A-G-A-S-I-N- -D-E- -P-O-R-C-E-L-A-I-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \kɔm‿œ̃.n‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃.z‿œ̃ ma.ɡa.zɛ̃ də pɔʁ.sə.lɛn\ (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