de guingois

\də ɡɛ̃.ɡwa\

/\də ɡɛ̃.ɡwa\/ adv

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - De travers.

Corpus desk

Index FR-de-guingois · de guingois · French

de guingois · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 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 guingois
PropertyValue
Headwordde guingois
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\də ɡɛ̃.ɡwa\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “de guingois” sits in French frequency

de guingois falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

de guingois is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \də ɡɛ̃.ɡwa\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

de guingois doesn't appear in our generated misspelling 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, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is de guingois, spelled D-E- -G-U-I-N-G-O-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    De travers.
  2. 2
    Tordu.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sitôt que l’ours sentit la pierre, et aperçut Vendredi, il se retourna, et s’avança vers lui en faisant de longues et diaboliques enjambées, marchant tout de guingois et d’une si étrange allure, qu’il aurait fait prendre à un cheval le petit galop.
  2. Le pli du falzar est impeccable, les godasses sont cirées et le nœud de cravate à peine de guingois.

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "de guingois"?
"de guingois" is spelled D-E- -G-U-I-N-G-O-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is \də ɡɛ̃.ɡwa\.
What does "de guingois" mean?
As an adverb, "de guingois" means: De travers.
How do you pronounce "de guingois"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "de guingois" is \də ɡɛ̃.ɡwa\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "de guingois" come from?
"de guingois" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list