l’éléphant dans la pièce

\l‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃ la pjɛs\

/\l‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃ la pjɛs\/ noun

The verdict

“l’éléphant dans la pièce” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
24
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Situation évidente que personne n’aborde.

Key facts for l’éléphant dans la pièce
PropertyValue
Headwordl’éléphant dans la pièce
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\l‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃ la pjɛs\
Letters24
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “l’éléphant dans la pièce” sits in French frequency

l’éléphant dans la pièce 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 l’éléphant dans la pièce is 24 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \l‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃ la pjɛs\. 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: "Situation évidente que personne n’aborde.".

No misspelling variants are generated for l’éléphant dans la pièce in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is l’éléphant dans la pièce, spelled L-’-É-L-É-P-H-A-N-T- -D-A-N-S- -L-A- -P-I-È-C-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Situation évidente que personne n’aborde.

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.

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:

PlainSpell, “l’éléphant dans la pièce, French word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/fr/mot/l-elephant-dans-la-piece

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "l’éléphant dans la pièce"?
"l’éléphant dans la pièce" is spelled L-’-É-L-É-P-H-A-N-T- -D-A-N-S- -L-A- -P-I-È-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \l‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃ la pjɛs\.
What does "l’éléphant dans la pièce" mean?
As a noun, "l’éléphant dans la pièce" means: Situation évidente que personne n’aborde.
How do you pronounce "l’éléphant dans la pièce"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "l’éléphant dans la pièce" is \l‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃ la pjɛs\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "l’éléphant dans la pièce" come from?
"l’éléphant dans la pièce" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “l’éléphant dans la pièce”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is L-’-É-L-É-P-H-A-N-T- -D-A-N-S- -L-A- -P-I-È-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \l‿e.le.fɑ̃ dɑ̃ la pjɛs\ (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

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter L in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

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