coup de boule

\ku də bul\

/\ku də bul\/ noun

The verdict

“coup de boule” 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
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Coup violent porté avec le front contre le visage d’une personne.

Key facts for coup de boule
PropertyValue
Headwordcoup de boule
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ku də bul\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “coup de boule” sits in French frequency

coup de boule 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 coup de boule is 13 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ku də bul\. 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: "Coup violent porté avec le front contre le visage d’une personne.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for coup de boule, 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.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is coup de boule, spelled C-O-U-P- -D-E- -B-O-U-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Coup violent porté avec le front contre le visage d’une personne.

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 "coup de boule"?
"coup de boule" is spelled C-O-U-P- -D-E- -B-O-U-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ku də bul\.
What does "coup de boule" mean?
As a noun, "coup de boule" means: Coup violent porté avec le front contre le visage d’une personne.
How do you pronounce "coup de boule"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "coup de boule" is \ku də bul\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "coup de boule" come from?
"coup de boule" 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 “coup de boule”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is C-O-U-P- -D-E- -B-O-U-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ku də bul\ (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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list