faire le mort

\fɛʁ lə mɔʁ\

/\fɛʁ lə mɔʁ\/ verb

The verdict

“faire le mort” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Faire semblant d’être mort (en restant immobile, en bloquant sa respiration…).

Corpus desk

Index FR-faire-le-mort · faire le mort · French

faire le mort · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "F" 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 faire le mort
PropertyValue
Headwordfaire le mort
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\fɛʁ lə mɔʁ\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « faire le mort » en français

faire le mortn'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

faire le mort is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \fɛʁ lə mɔʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for faire le mort, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is faire le mort, spelled F-A-I-R-E- -L-E- -M-O-R-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Faire semblant d’être mort (en restant immobile, en bloquant sa respiration…).
  2. 2
    Ne plus donner de nouvelles, de signe de vie, ne pas se manifester (par volonté ou par ruse).
  3. 3
    Ne pas jouer une donne, lors d'une partie de tarot avec trop de participants. Faire le mort se fait à tour de rôle

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Il se retrouva genoux à terre, du sang clair coulant de ses narines, un goût de fer dans la bouche. Au lieu de faire le mort, il prit appui sur ses mains dans une vaine tentative pour se relever, alors le gros lui balança un violent coup de sabot en pleine figure. Sa tête bascula lourdement vers l’arrière, et le jour s’éteignit.
  2. J’avais résolu de faire le mort jusqu’au jeudi, jour de notre rendez-vous avec Simon.

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 le mort"?
"faire le mort" is spelled F-A-I-R-E- -L-E- -M-O-R-T. The IPA pronunciation is \fɛʁ lə mɔʁ\.
What does "faire le mort" mean?
As a verb, "faire le mort" means: Faire semblant d’être mort (en restant immobile, en bloquant sa respiration…).
How do you pronounce "faire le mort"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "faire le mort" is \fɛʁ lə mɔʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "faire le mort" come from?
"faire le mort" 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