décontenancer
\de.kɔ̃t.nɑ̃.se\
The verdict
“décontenancer” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Troubler quelqu’un en lui faisant perdre contenance.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | décontenancer |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \de.kɔ̃t.nɑ̃.se\ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “décontenancer” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for décontenancer is 13 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \de.kɔ̃t.nɑ̃.se\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for décontenancer in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is décontenancer, spelled D-É-C-O-N-T-E-N-A-N-C-E-R.
Definition
- 1Troubler quelqu’un en lui faisant perdre contenance.
- 2Perdre visiblement contenance par timidité, par embarras.
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 "décontenancer"?
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Using “décontenancer”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is D-É-C-O-N-T-E-N-A-N-C-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \de.kɔ̃t.nɑ̃.se\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.