grain de sable
\ɡʁɛ̃ də sabl\
The verdict
“grain de sable” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Particule de petite taille provenant de la désagrégation des roches.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | grain de sable |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ɡʁɛ̃ də sabl\ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “grain de sable” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for grain de sable is 14 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɡʁɛ̃ də sabl\. 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.
grain de sable has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is grain de sable, spelled G-R-A-I-N- -D-E- -S-A-B-L-E.
Definition
- 1Particule de petite taille provenant de la désagrégation des roches.
- 2Problème ou dégât causé par le coté abrasif d’un grain de sable dans un mécanisme ou un engrenage.
- 3Élément imprévu qui entrave la réalisation d’un projet.
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 “grain de sable”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is G-R-A-I-N- -D-E- -S-A-B-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ɡʁɛ̃ də sabl\ (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.