couper le cou
\ku.pe lə ku\
The verdict
“couper le cou” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Décapiter, trancher la tête à une personne.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | couper le cou |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \ku.pe lə ku\ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “couper le cou” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
couper le cou is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \ku.pe lə ku\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Décapiter, trancher la tête à une personne.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for couper le cou, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is couper le cou, spelled C-O-U-P-E-R- -L-E- -C-O-U.
Definition
- 1Décapiter, trancher la tête à une personne.
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 “couper le cou”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-O-U-P-E-R- -L-E- -C-O-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ku.pe lə ku\ (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.