d’aplomb
\d‿a.plɔ̃\
The verdict
“d’aplomb” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Suivant la verticale.
Corpus desk
Index FR-d-aplomb · d’aplomb · French
d’aplomb · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | d’aplomb |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \d‿a.plɔ̃\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « d’aplomb » en français
Rare enough to double-check
d’aplomb is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \d‿a.plɔ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for d’aplomb, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is d’aplomb, spelled D-’-A-P-L-O-M-B.
Definition
- 1Suivant la verticale.
- 2Droit et debout, en équilibre stable.
- 3En bon état physique et moral.
- 4Se dit d’un meuble posé verticalement alors qu’il devrait être incliné pour suivre l’orientation de la pièce qui le porte. S’applique également aux meubles représentés verticaux alors que la position habituelle est d’être inclinée.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how d’aplomb appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
La clarté tombant d’aplomb sur son visage, et le reste du corps étant dans l’obscurité, il ressemblait ainsi à ces portraits noirs où Raphaël s’est représenté lui-même […]
Le soleil dardait d’aplomb, en faisant reluire les gabillots de fer autour des mâts, les plaques du bastingage et la surface de l’eau ; […].
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.