en herbe
\ɑ̃.n‿ɛʁb\
The verdict
“en herbe” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. 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) - Qualifie de jeunes plants lorsqu’ils sont encore verts et qu’ils s’élèvent peu au-dessus des sillons.
Corpus desk
Index FR-en-herbe · en herbe · French
en herbe · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 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 herbe |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \ɑ̃.n‿ɛʁb\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « en herbe » en français
Rare enough to double-check
en herbe is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ɑ̃.n‿ɛʁb\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for en herbe in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, 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 is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is en herbe, spelled E-N- -H-E-R-B-E.
Definition
- 1Qualifie de jeunes plants lorsqu’ils sont encore verts et qu’ils s’élèvent peu au-dessus des sillons.
- 2Qualifie un jeune homme ou une jeune femme qui étudie.
- 3Qualifie un professionnel qui apprend encore son métier.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how en herbe appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
De la vue qu’encadrait la fenêtre de sa chambre, il retint le bleu lavande du ciel orageux et des collines et les tons rompus de bleu-vert du champ de blé en herbe.
C’est un avocat en herbe, un docteur en herbe, etc.
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.