dorer la pilule
\dɔ.ʁe la pi.lyl\
The verdict
“dorer la pilule” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Flatter une personne pour la pousser à faire ou à accepter quelque chose qui excite sa répugnance → voir berner, duper et tromper.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dorer la pilule |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \dɔ.ʁe la pi.lyl\ |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dorer la pilule” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
dorer la pilule is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \dɔ.ʁe la pi.lyl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for dorer la pilule in our index, 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.
No borrowing history is documented 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 dorer la pilule, spelled D-O-R-E-R- -L-A- -P-I-L-U-L-E.
Definition
- 1Flatter une personne pour la pousser à faire ou à accepter quelque chose qui excite sa répugnance → voir berner, duper et tromper.
- 2Consoler d’une disgrâce, d’un refus, en l’accompagnant de promesses et de paroles bienveillantes voire mielleuses.
- 3Bronzer, se dorer au soleil.
Synonyms
Antonyms
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
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Using “dorer la pilule”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is D-O-R-E-R- -L-A- -P-I-L-U-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \dɔ.ʁe la pi.lyl\ (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.