jambes par-dessus tête

adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“jambes par-dessus tête” 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
22
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - En culbutant, à la renverse, à l’envers.

Key facts for jambes par-dessus tête
PropertyValue
Headwordjambes par-dessus tête
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
Letters22
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “jambes par-dessus tête” sits in French frequency

jambes par-dessus tête falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for jambes par-dessus tête is 22 letters long, classified as an adverb. 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: "En culbutant, à la renverse, à l’envers.".

Zero misspellings are on record for jambes par-dessus tête in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is jambes par-dessus tête, spelled J-A-M-B-E-S- -P-A-R---D-E-S-S-U-S- -T-Ê-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    En culbutant, à la renverse, à l’envers.

Synonyms

à jambes rebindainescul par-dessus têteles jambes en l’airles quatre fers en l’air

This word in other languages

head over heels(English)

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

How do you spell "jambes par-dessus tête"?
"jambes par-dessus tête" is spelled J-A-M-B-E-S- -P-A-R---D-E-S-S-U-S- -T-Ê-T-E.
What does "jambes par-dessus tête" mean?
As an adverb, "jambes par-dessus tête" means: En culbutant, à la renverse, à l’envers.
What language does "jambes par-dessus tête" come from?
"jambes par-dessus tête" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “jambes par-dessus tête”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is J-A-M-B-E-S- -P-A-R---D-E-S-S-U-S- -T-Ê-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list