con comme un balai

\kɔ̃ kɔ.m‿œ̃ ba.lɛ\

/\kɔ̃ kɔ.m‿œ̃ ba.lɛ\/ adj

The verdict

“con comme un balai” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
18
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Particulièrement stupide, d’une grande bêtise.

Corpus desk

Index FR-con-comme-un-balai · con comme un balai · French

con comme un balai · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 18 letters
  • VOW-7 7 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 con comme un balai
PropertyValue
Headwordcon comme un balai
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\kɔ̃ kɔ.m‿œ̃ ba.lɛ\
Letters18
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « con comme un balai » en français

con comme un balaisiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

con comme un balai is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \kɔ̃ kɔ.m‿œ̃ ba.lɛ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Particulièrement stupide, d’une grande bêtise.".

Zero misspellings are on record for con comme un balai in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

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 con comme un balai, spelled C-O-N- -C-O-M-M-E- -U-N- -B-A-L-A-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    Particulièrement stupide, d’une grande bêtise.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Elle ne faisait que des garçons, et elle en était fière. Elle fournirait au moins un peloton d’exécution à la patrie pour son compte ; il est vrai que la patrie l’avait payé d’avance, elle y avait droit. J’espérais qu’il y aurait une guerre en temps voulu pour utiliser tout ce matériel, qui autrement ne servait pas à grand-chose, car ils étaient tous cons…
  2. Quatre nuques d’hommes d’affaires sous des chapeaux, raides comme la justice et probablement cons comme des balais

Synonyms

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "con comme un balai"?
"con comme un balai" is spelled C-O-N- -C-O-M-M-E- -U-N- -B-A-L-A-I. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ̃ kɔ.m‿œ̃ ba.lɛ\.
What does "con comme un balai" mean?
As an adjective, "con comme un balai" means: Particulièrement stupide, d’une grande bêtise.
How do you pronounce "con comme un balai"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "con comme un balai" is \kɔ̃ kɔ.m‿œ̃ ba.lɛ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "con comme un balai" come from?
"con comme un balai" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list