faire mal

\fɛʁ mal\

/\fɛʁ mal\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“faire mal” 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
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Infliger de la douleur.

Key facts for faire mal
PropertyValue
Headwordfaire mal
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\fɛʁ mal\
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “faire mal” sits in French frequency

faire mal 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 mal is 9 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \fɛʁ mal\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for faire mal, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is faire mal, spelled F-A-I-R-E- -M-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Infliger de la douleur.
  2. 2
    Effectuer une action mauvaise, ou de la mauvaise façon.
  3. 3
    Dans l’expression ça va faire mal, on parle de quelque chose qui va faire du bruit, qui va surprendre.

This word in other languages

hurt(English)doler(Español)wehtun(Deutsch)doer(Português)

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 mal"?
"faire mal" is spelled F-A-I-R-E- -M-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is \fɛʁ mal\.
What does "faire mal" mean?
As a verb, "faire mal" means: Infliger de la douleur.
How do you pronounce "faire mal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "faire mal" is \fɛʁ mal\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "faire mal" come from?
"faire mal" 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.

Using “faire mal”

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

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