de cœur

\də kœʁ\

/\də kœʁ\/ adj

The verdict

“de cœur” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qualifie ceux que l’on aime le plus tendrement.

Corpus desk

Index FR-de-c-ur · de cœur · French

de cœur · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 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.

Key facts for de cœur
PropertyValue
Headwordde cœur
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\də kœʁ\
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « de cœur » en français

de cœurn'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

Rare enough to double-check

de cœur is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \də kœʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for de cœur in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is de cœur, spelled D-E- -C-Œ-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qualifie ceux que l’on aime le plus tendrement.
  2. 2
    Qualifie une personne avec qui on a des liens affectueux et quasi-parentaux sans avoir de lien biologique avec elle.
  3. 3
    Préféré.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Passer de l’état d’ami de cœur à amant de cœur.
  2. Il n’a aucun doute. Michael Ketcham Hally­day, cousin et « frère de cœur » de Johnny Hally­day, a confié à RTL ce 12 mars son senti­ment sur la polé­mique de l’héri­tage, qui déchire Laeti­cia, David, et Laura Smet.

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 "de cœur"?
"de cœur" is spelled D-E- -C-Œ-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is \də kœʁ\.
What does "de cœur" mean?
As an adjective, "de cœur" means: Qualifie ceux que l’on aime le plus tendrement.
How do you pronounce "de cœur"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "de cœur" is \də kœʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "de cœur" come from?
"de cœur" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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