coup de foudre
\ku də fudʁ\
The verdict
“coup de foudre” 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
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Phénomène physique marqué par l’impact de la foudre sur un objet ou un être vivant.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | coup de foudre |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ku də fudʁ\ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “coup de foudre” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for coup de foudre is 14 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ku də fudʁ\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for coup de foudre in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is coup de foudre, spelled C-O-U-P- -D-E- -F-O-U-D-R-E.
Definition
- 1Phénomène physique marqué par l’impact de la foudre sur un objet ou un être vivant.
- 2Événement soudain et inattendu.
- 3Attrait passionné qui se déclare subitement.
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 “coup de foudre”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-O-U-P- -D-E- -F-O-U-D-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ku də fudʁ\ (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.