important
French, adjective/ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tɑ̃/
important is spelled I-M-P-O-R-T-A-N-T (9 letters) and appears 170 times per million words in written French, the 476th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Important is a French adjective meaning “important” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a present participle of importer. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Qui importe ; qui est majeur, conséquent, considérable ou d’un grand intérêt”.
What does important mean in English?
adjective
- 1
important
Il est important de se brosser les dents.
- 2
large, considerable, significant
Une partie importante des votes
verb
- 1
present participle of importer
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui importe ; qui est majeur, conséquent, considérable ou d’un grand intérêt. 2. Influent, en parlant d'une personne qui jouit d’une certaine autorité, d’un grand crédit.
noun: 1. Essentiel.
noun: 1. Celui ou celle qui cherche à donner aux autres et qui a soi-même une opinion exagérée de sa qualité, de son mérite, de son crédit. 2. Aristocrate partisan de la régente Anne d'Autriche.
verb: 1. Participe présent du verbe importer.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of important
- importante feminine
- importants masculine plural
- importantes feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce important?
- /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tɑ̃/
- /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tɑ̃.t‿/
- \ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tɑ̃\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to important
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is important in French?
important appears 170 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).