garde-fou
\ɡaʁ.də.fu\
The verdict
“garde-fou” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Parapet ou barrière destinée à prévenir les risques de chute.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | garde-fou |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ɡaʁ.də.fu\ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “garde-fou” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
garde-fou is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ɡaʁ.də.fu\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for garde-fou, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is garde-fou, spelled G-A-R-D-E---F-O-U.
Definition
- 1Parapet ou barrière destinée à prévenir les risques de chute.
- 2Barrière métallique courant tout le long d’une route et permettant d’atténuer la gravité de certains accidents.
- 3Dispositif permettant d’atténuer certains risques, en particulier en limitant les abus.
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
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Using “garde-fou”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is G-A-R-D-E---F-O-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ɡaʁ.də.fu\ (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.