grande dame
\ɡʁɑ̃d dam\
The verdict
“grande dame” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Femme particulièrement remarquable, d’une haute qualité morale.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | grande dame |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ɡʁɑ̃d dam\ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “grande dame” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
grande dame is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ɡʁɑ̃d dam\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Femme particulièrement remarquable, d’une haute qualité morale.".
grande dame has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Our source data has no etymology on file 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 grande dame, spelled G-R-A-N-D-E- -D-A-M-E.
Definition
- 1Femme particulièrement remarquable, d’une haute qualité morale.
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 “grande dame”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is G-R-A-N-D-E- -D-A-M-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ɡʁɑ̃d dam\ (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.