dapper

\dæpə(r)\

/\dæpə(r)\/ adj

The verdict

“dapper” is uncommon French (frequency #98,945 among 5,307 “D” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#98,945
frequency rank, French
5,307
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Fringant, sémillant.

Corpus desk

Index FR-dapper · dapper · French

dapper · rank #98,945 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #98,945
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,307
  • PHOTO-FINISH dahu

Nearest frequency peer: dahu (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « dapper »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « dapper » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for dapper
PropertyValue
Headworddapper
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\dæpə(r)\
Letters6
Frequency rank#98,945
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « dapper » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).dappertombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « dahu » (#98,944), « dagger » (#98,943), « darons » (#98,947). Parmi 5,307 lemmes en « D », « dapper » est au #98,945. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dapper is uncommon French at frequency #98,945 among 5,307 “D” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \dæpə(r)\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Fringant, sémillant.".

No misspelling variants are generated for dapper in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is dapper, spelled D-A-P-P-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Fringant, sémillant.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how dapper appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Going down the street, you would meet a typical commercial traveller, dapper and alert. — P.G.Wodehouse, The Man With Two Left Feet, 1917.
  2. This entrance is through a little courtyard, in which is the stable and coach-house combined, where Madame Perinere, a lady who paints the magic word "Modes" beneath her name on the door-post of number seventeen, keeps the dapper little cart and pony which carry her bonnets to the farthest corner of Paris. — Henry Seton Merriman, The Slave Of The Lamp, 1892.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dapper"?
"dapper" is spelled D-A-P-P-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \dæpə(r)\.
What does "dapper" mean?
As an adjective, "dapper" means: Fringant, sémillant.
How do you pronounce "dapper"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dapper" is \dæpə(r)\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "dapper" come from?
"dapper" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dapper", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list