donner du mou

\dɔ.ne dy mu\

/\dɔ.ne dy mu\/ verb

The verdict

“donner du mou” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Donner plus de longueur de corde, de ficelle, etc.

Corpus desk

Index FR-donner-du-mou · donner du mou · French

donner du mou · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 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 donner du mou
PropertyValue
Headworddonner du mou
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\dɔ.ne dy mu\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « donner du mou » en français

donner du moun'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

donner du mou is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \dɔ.ne dy mu\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for donner du mou in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is donner du mou, spelled D-O-N-N-E-R- -D-U- -M-O-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Donner plus de longueur de corde, de ficelle, etc.
  2. 2
    Donner plus de liberté d’action.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Shamir ne la quittait pas des yeux, lui indiquant où poser les pied, où prendre prise avec ses mains, lorsqu’il fallait tendre la corde ou au contraire donner du mou.
  2. Tu ferais bien de lui donner un peu de mou, à ton rejeton. C’est pas en l’enfermant que tu l’éloigneras de la drogue.

Synonyms

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 "donner du mou"?
"donner du mou" is spelled D-O-N-N-E-R- -D-U- -M-O-U. The IPA pronunciation is \dɔ.ne dy mu\.
What does "donner du mou" mean?
As a verb, "donner du mou" means: Donner plus de longueur de corde, de ficelle, etc.
How do you pronounce "donner du mou"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "donner du mou" is \dɔ.ne dy mu\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "donner du mou" come from?
"donner du mou" 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