entre quatre yeux
\ɑ̃.tʁə ka.tʁə z‿jø\
The verdict
“entre quatre yeux” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as an adverb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 17
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - En tête à tête. On prononce \z\ pour l’euphonie. L’Académie française recommande cette orthographe, mais on peut écrire cette locution de différentes façons.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | entre quatre yeux |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \ɑ̃.tʁə ka.tʁə z‿jø\ |
| Letters | 17 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “entre quatre yeux” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for entre quatre yeux is 17 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɑ̃.tʁə ka.tʁə z‿jø\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "En tête à tête. On prononce \z\ pour l’euphonie. L’Académie française recommande cette orthographe, mais on peut écrire cette locution de différentes façons.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for entre quatre yeux, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
No borrowing history is documented 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 entre quatre yeux, spelled E-N-T-R-E- -Q-U-A-T-R-E- -Y-E-U-X.
Definition
- 1En tête à tête. On prononce \z\ pour l’euphonie. L’Académie française recommande cette orthographe, mais on peut écrire cette locution de différentes façons.
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
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Using “entre quatre yeux”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is E-N-T-R-E- -Q-U-A-T-R-E- -Y-E-U-X - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ɑ̃.tʁə ka.tʁə z‿jø\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.