foutre les poils

\futʁ lɛ pwal\

/\futʁ lɛ pwal\/ verb

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

The verdict

“foutre les poils” 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
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Provoquer de l’émotion.

Key facts for foutre les poils
PropertyValue
Headwordfoutre les poils
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\futʁ lɛ pwal\
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “foutre les poils” sits in French frequency

foutre les poils 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 foutre les poils is 16 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \futʁ lɛ pwal\. 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: "Provoquer de l’émotion.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for foutre les poils, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. 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 best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is foutre les poils, spelled F-O-U-T-R-E- -L-E-S- -P-O-I-L-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Provoquer de l’émotion.

Synonyms

donner la chair de poule

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 "foutre les poils"?
"foutre les poils" is spelled F-O-U-T-R-E- -L-E-S- -P-O-I-L-S. The IPA pronunciation is \futʁ lɛ pwal\.
What does "foutre les poils" mean?
As a verb, "foutre les poils" means: Provoquer de l’émotion.
How do you pronounce "foutre les poils"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "foutre les poils" is \futʁ lɛ pwal\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "foutre les poils" come from?
"foutre les poils" 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 “foutre les poils”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is F-O-U-T-R-E- -L-E-S- -P-O-I-L-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \futʁ lɛ pwal\ (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