en sous-main
\ɑ̃ su.mɛ̃\
The verdict
“en sous-main” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - En secret.
Corpus desk
Index FR-en-sous-main · en sous-main · French
en sous-main · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-5 5 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 sous-main |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \ɑ̃ su.mɛ̃\ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « en sous-main » en français
Rare enough to double-check
en sous-main is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \ɑ̃ su.mɛ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "En secret.".
en sous-main doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
No explicit etymology string is stored 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 sous-main, spelled E-N- -S-O-U-S---M-A-I-N.
Definition
- 1En secret.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how en sous-main appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Durant ce même conflit, l’Allemagne, voyant fléchir son effort de guerre, rachetait en sous-main une partie des organes de presse français et tentait même de s’approprier l’agence Havas !
Pour ma part, je soupçonne fort le brasseur Kampf d’avoir précipité la débâcle pour acheter les titres en sous-main…
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.