faire la nique

\fɛʁ la nik\

/\fɛʁ la nik\/ verb

The verdict

“faire la nique” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Faire un signe de mépris à quelqu’un, le braver ou s’en moquer.

Key facts for faire la nique
PropertyValue
Headwordfaire la nique
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\fɛʁ la nik\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “faire la nique” sits in French frequency

faire la nique falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for faire la nique is 14 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \fɛʁ la nik\. 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: "Faire un signe de mépris à quelqu’un, le braver ou s’en moquer.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for faire la nique in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

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 faire la nique, spelled F-A-I-R-E- -L-A- -N-I-Q-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Faire un signe de mépris à quelqu’un, le braver ou s’en moquer.

Synonyms

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "faire la nique"?
"faire la nique" is spelled F-A-I-R-E- -L-A- -N-I-Q-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is \fɛʁ la nik\.
What does "faire la nique" mean?
As a verb, "faire la nique" means: Faire un signe de mépris à quelqu’un, le braver ou s’en moquer.
How do you pronounce "faire la nique"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "faire la nique" is \fɛʁ la nik\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "faire la nique" come from?
"faire la nique" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Using “faire la nique”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is F-A-I-R-E- -L-A- -N-I-Q-U-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \fɛʁ la nik\ (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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list