de peur que

\də pœʁ kə\

/\də pœʁ kə\/ conj

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (Suivi du subjonctif) Dans la crainte que ; pour éviter que.

Corpus desk

Index FR-de-peur-que · de peur que · French

de peur que · 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 peur que
PropertyValue
Headwordde peur que
LanguageFrench
Part of speechConjunction
IPA\də pœʁ kə\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « de peur que » en français

de peur quen'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 peur que is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as aconjunction, transcribed \də pœʁ kə\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "(Suivi du subjonctif) Dans la crainte que ; pour éviter que.".

No misspelling variants are generated for de peur que in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

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 de peur que, spelled D-E- -P-E-U-R- -Q-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    (Suivi du subjonctif) Dans la crainte que ; pour éviter que.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. La Dalluys entretenoit un pauvre Morainville, vieux mousquetaire ; elle lui payoit le fiacre pour arriver chez elle, de peur que ses souliers ne crottassent le sopha, mais il s’en retournoit à pied.
  2. Mais elle avait toujours cette forme d’appréhension, une grande réticence à partager cette curieuse déviance avec ses amies, de peur qu’on ne prenne alors son homme pour un être bizarre.

Synonyms

de crainte que

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 "de peur que"?
"de peur que" is spelled D-E- -P-E-U-R- -Q-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is \də pœʁ kə\.
What does "de peur que" mean?
As a conjunction, "de peur que" means: (Suivi du subjonctif) Dans la crainte que ; pour éviter que.
How do you pronounce "de peur que"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "de peur que" is \də pœʁ kə\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "de peur que" come from?
"de peur que" 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