coolie
\ku.li\
The verdict
“coolie” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Indien ou Chinois embauché pour aller travailler dans les diverses colonies européennes.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | coolie |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ku.li\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “coolie” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
coolie is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ku.li\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Indien ou Chinois embauché pour aller travailler dans les diverses colonies européennes.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for coolie, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is coolie, spelled C-O-O-L-I-E.
Definition
- 1Indien ou Chinois embauché pour aller travailler dans les diverses colonies européennes.
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
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Using “coolie”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-O-O-L-I-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ku.li\ (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.