en douce
\ɑ̃ dus\
The verdict
“en douce” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - En essayant de ne pas se faire voir, de ne pas attirer l’attention.
Corpus desk
Index FR-en-douce · en douce · French
en douce · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "E" 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 | en douce |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \ɑ̃ dus\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « en douce » en français
Rare enough to double-check
en douce is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \ɑ̃ dus\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "En essayant de ne pas se faire voir, de ne pas attirer l’attention.".
en douce has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is en douce, spelled E-N- -D-O-U-C-E.
Definition
- 1En essayant de ne pas se faire voir, de ne pas attirer l’attention.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how en douce appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Tu parles d’un mecton qui connaissait les heures des trains ! Tu l’voyais s’rentrer en s’glissant en douce dans un groupe du dépôt où c’était l’filon, et y rester, toujours en douce poil-poil, et même, i’ s’donnait beaucoup d’mal pour que les copains ayent besoin de lui.
De n’pas danser, on mord les autres, n’est-ce pas ? et j’ai justement vu — quand tu m’interrogeais — une connaissance avec qui j’suis en affaire et qui, en douce, m’a fait signe de rappliquer.
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.