falbala

\fal.ba.la\

/\fal.ba.la\/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pièce d’étoffe plissée utilisée pour rehausser l’apparence d’un vêtement ou d’un rideau.

Corpus desk

Index FR-falbala · falbala · French

falbala · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 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 falbala
PropertyValue
Headwordfalbala
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\fal.ba.la\
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « falbala » en français

falbalareste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

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

Rare enough to double-check

falbala is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \fal.ba.la\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

falbala has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is falbala, spelled F-A-L-B-A-L-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pièce d’étoffe plissée utilisée pour rehausser l’apparence d’un vêtement ou d’un rideau.
  2. 2
    (Par extension) Expansions latérales ondulées du stipe de certaines algues.
  3. 3
    Ornement trop voyant sur les vêtements.
  4. 4
    Rituel inutile.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Madame Necker, […], ne le cédait en magnificence à aucune des dames de son cercle. Trois étages de falbalas garnissaient sa robe; ….
  2. Quant aux serpents, il en vit plusieurs, et l’Infante épouvantée serrait autour de ses chevilles sa robe à falbalas, qui traînait des guirlandes de ronces mortes.

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 "falbala"?
"falbala" is spelled F-A-L-B-A-L-A. The IPA pronunciation is \fal.ba.la\.
What does "falbala" mean?
As a noun, "falbala" means: Pièce d’étoffe plissée utilisée pour rehausser l’apparence d’un vêtement ou d’un rideau.
How do you pronounce "falbala"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "falbala" is \fal.ba.la\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "falbala" come from?
"falbala" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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