dum-dum
\dum.dum\
The verdict
“dum-dum” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qualifie une balle dont le projectile va augmenter de volume ou se fractionner à l’impact pour causer d’importantes blessures.
Corpus desk
Index FR-dum-dum · dum-dum · French
dum-dum · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 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 | dum-dum |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \dum.dum\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « dum-dum » en français
Rare enough to double-check
dum-dum is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \dum.dum\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Qualifie une balle dont le projectile va augmenter de volume ou se fractionner à l’impact pour causer d’importantes blessures.".
No misspelling variants are generated for dum-dum in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is dum-dum, spelled D-U-M---D-U-M.
Definition
- 1Qualifie une balle dont le projectile va augmenter de volume ou se fractionner à l’impact pour causer d’importantes blessures.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dum-dum appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Les Austro-Hongrois ont employé aussi des balles expansives (dum-dum) fabriquées en 1914.
Les projectiles anglais, avec leur pointe qui s’écrase facilement, sont de vraies balles dum-dum.
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.