crème de la crème

\kʁɛm də la kʁɛm\

/\kʁɛm də la kʁɛm\/ noun

The verdict

“crème de la crème” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Le meilleur de quelque chose.

Corpus desk

Index FR-creme-de-la-creme · crème de la crème · French

crème de la crème · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 17 letters
  • VOW-6 6 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 crème de la crème
PropertyValue
Headwordcrème de la crème
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kʁɛm də la kʁɛm\
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « crème de la crème » en français

crème de la crèmereste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

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

Rare enough to double-check

crème de la crème is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \kʁɛm də la kʁɛm\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Le meilleur de quelque chose.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for crème de la crème, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is crème de la crème, spelled C-R-È-M-E- -D-E- -L-A- -C-R-È-M-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Le meilleur de quelque chose.

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 "crème de la crème"?
"crème de la crème" is spelled C-R-È-M-E- -D-E- -L-A- -C-R-È-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is \kʁɛm də la kʁɛm\.
What does "crème de la crème" mean?
As a noun, "crème de la crème" means: Le meilleur de quelque chose.
How do you pronounce "crème de la crème"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "crème de la crème" is \kʁɛm də la kʁɛm\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "crème de la crème" come from?
"crème de la crème" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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