hors de pair
^((h aspiré))\ɔʁ də pɛʁ\
The verdict
“hors de pair” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as an adjective - 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) - Sans égal, exceptionnel.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hors de pair |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | ^((h aspiré))\ɔʁ də pɛʁ\ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hors de pair” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for hors de pair is 12 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as ^((h aspiré))\ɔʁ də pɛʁ\. 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: "Sans égal, exceptionnel.".
Zero misspellings are on record for hors de pair in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
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 hors de pair, spelled H-O-R-S- -D-E- -P-A-I-R.
Definition
- 1Sans égal, exceptionnel.
Synonyms
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 “hors de pair”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is H-O-R-S- -D-E- -P-A-I-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as ^((h aspiré))\ɔʁ də pɛʁ\ (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.