donner froid dans le dos

\dɔ.ne fʁwa dɑ̃ lə do\

/\dɔ.ne fʁwa dɑ̃ lə do\/ verb

The verdict

“donner froid dans le dos” 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
24
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Inspirer la peur.

Key facts for donner froid dans le dos
PropertyValue
Headworddonner froid dans le dos
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\dɔ.ne fʁwa dɑ̃ lə do\
Letters24
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “donner froid dans le dos” sits in French frequency

donner froid dans le dos 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.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for donner froid dans le dos is 24 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \dɔ.ne fʁwa dɑ̃ lə do\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Inspirer la peur.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for donner froid dans le dos, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, 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 donner froid dans le dos, spelled D-O-N-N-E-R- -F-R-O-I-D- -D-A-N-S- -L-E- -D-O-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Inspirer la peur.

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 froid dans le dos"?
"donner froid dans le dos" is spelled D-O-N-N-E-R- -F-R-O-I-D- -D-A-N-S- -L-E- -D-O-S. The IPA pronunciation is \dɔ.ne fʁwa dɑ̃ lə do\.
What does "donner froid dans le dos" mean?
As a verb, "donner froid dans le dos" means: Inspirer la peur.
How do you pronounce "donner froid dans le dos"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "donner froid dans le dos" is \dɔ.ne fʁwa dɑ̃ lə do\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "donner froid dans le dos" come from?
"donner froid dans le dos" 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.

Using “donner froid dans le dos”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is D-O-N-N-E-R- -F-R-O-I-D- -D-A-N-S- -L-E- -D-O-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \dɔ.ne fʁwa dɑ̃ lə do\ (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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list