dormir debout

\dɔʁ.miʁ də.bu\

/\dɔʁ.miʁ də.bu\/ verb

The verdict

“dormir debout” 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) - Être très fatigué au point de somnoler.

Corpus desk

Index FR-dormir-debout · dormir debout · French

dormir debout · 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 dormir debout
PropertyValue
Headworddormir debout
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\dɔʁ.miʁ də.bu\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « dormir debout » en français

dormir deboutsiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dormir debout is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \dɔʁ.miʁ də.bu\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Être très fatigué au point de somnoler.".

Zero misspellings are on record for dormir debout in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is dormir debout, spelled D-O-R-M-I-R- -D-E-B-O-U-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Être très fatigué au point de somnoler.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. En rentrant à la maison, je dormais debout, d’un de ces sommeils d’enfant fatigué par un long voyage contre lesquels il n’y a pas de résistance, et on m’envoya coucher.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dormir debout"?
"dormir debout" is spelled D-O-R-M-I-R- -D-E-B-O-U-T. The IPA pronunciation is \dɔʁ.miʁ də.bu\.
What does "dormir debout" mean?
As a verb, "dormir debout" means: Être très fatigué au point de somnoler.
How do you pronounce "dormir debout"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dormir debout" is \dɔʁ.miʁ də.bu\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "dormir debout" come from?
"dormir debout" 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