haut la main
^((h aspiré))\o la mɛ̃\
The verdict
“haut la main” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as an adverb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - En tenant la main des rênes haute, pour soutenir le cheval, pour l’empêcher de buter, de tomber, ou pour lui donner la facilité de lever le devant, de faire des courbettes.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | haut la main |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | ^((h aspiré))\o la mɛ̃\ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “haut la main” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for haut la main is 12 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as ^((h aspiré))\o la mɛ̃\. 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.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for haut la main, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is haut la main, spelled H-A-U-T- -L-A- -M-A-I-N.
Definition
- 1En tenant la main des rênes haute, pour soutenir le cheval, pour l’empêcher de buter, de tomber, ou pour lui donner la facilité de lever le devant, de faire des courbettes.
- 2Avec autorité.
- 3En surmontant tous les obstacles, avec facilité, avec promptitude.
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 “haut la main”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is H-A-U-T- -L-A- -M-A-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as ^((h aspiré))\o la mɛ̃\ (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.