dessous-de-table
\də.su də tabl\
The verdict
“dessous-de-table” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 16
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Somme d’argent versé par un acheteur à un vendeur, afin de le convaincre de frauder.
Corpus desk
Index FR-dessous-de-table · dessous-de-table · French
dessous-de-table · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 16 letters
- VOW-6 6 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dessous-de-table |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \də.su də tabl\ |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « dessous-de-table » en français
Rare enough to double-check
dessous-de-table is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \də.su də tabl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
dessous-de-table has no tracked misspelling variants, 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.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is dessous-de-table, spelled D-E-S-S-O-U-S---D-E---T-A-B-L-E.
Definition
- 1Somme d’argent versé par un acheteur à un vendeur, afin de le convaincre de frauder.
- 2Somme d’argent qu’une personne demande frauduleusement à une autre.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dessous-de-table appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Joss savait que le lettré ne louait pas cher, parce que c’était chez l’habitant, et parce que c’était un dessous-de-table.
Un propriétaire foncier qui oblige des jeunes à payer des dessous-de-table pour un studio avec WC dans la cour devrait être pendu par les pieds et mis au pilori.
Synonyms
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.