en pétard

\ɑ̃ pe.taʁ\

/\ɑ̃ pe.taʁ\/ adv

The verdict

“en pétard” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - En colère ; sur le point d’exploser.

Corpus desk

Index FR-en-petard · en pétard · French

en pétard · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 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.

Key facts for en pétard
PropertyValue
Headworden pétard
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\ɑ̃ pe.taʁ\
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « en pétard » en français

en pétardn'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

Rare enough to double-check

en pétard is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \ɑ̃ pe.taʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for en pétard, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is en pétard, spelled E-N- -P-É-T-A-R-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    En colère ; sur le point d’exploser.
  2. 2
    En désordre, comme explosé.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Avec le commandant du camp ça ne marche pas non plus, ils sont tous deux en pétard constant.
  2. Ces taux de croissance ont mis en pétard les requins de la finance qui, eux aussi, veulent leur part d'un immense marché.

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 "en pétard"?
"en pétard" is spelled E-N- -P-É-T-A-R-D. The IPA pronunciation is \ɑ̃ pe.taʁ\.
What does "en pétard" mean?
As an adverb, "en pétard" means: En colère ; sur le point d’exploser.
How do you pronounce "en pétard"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "en pétard" is \ɑ̃ pe.taʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "en pétard" come from?
"en pétard" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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