ladies and gentlemen

\ˌlei.diz ən ˈdʒɛn.tl̩.mən\

/\ˌlei.diz ən ˈdʒɛn.tl̩.mən\/ intj

The verdict

“ladies and gentlemen” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
20
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Mesdames et Messieurs.

Key facts for ladies and gentlemen
PropertyValue
Headwordladies and gentlemen
LanguageFrench
Part of speechInterjection
IPA\ˌlei.diz ən ˈdʒɛn.tl̩.mən\
Letters20
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ladies and gentlemen” sits in French frequency

ladies and gentlemen 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.

Rare enough to double-check

ladies and gentlemen is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as aninterjection, transcribed \ˌlei.diz ən ˈdʒɛn.tl̩.mən\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Mesdames et Messieurs.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for ladies and gentlemen, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is ladies and gentlemen, spelled L-A-D-I-E-S- -A-N-D- -G-E-N-T-L-E-M-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mesdames et Messieurs.

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 "ladies and gentlemen"?
"ladies and gentlemen" is spelled L-A-D-I-E-S- -A-N-D- -G-E-N-T-L-E-M-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ˌlei.diz ən ˈdʒɛn.tl̩.mən\.
What does "ladies and gentlemen" mean?
As an interjection, "ladies and gentlemen" means: Mesdames et Messieurs.
How do you pronounce "ladies and gentlemen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ladies and gentlemen" is \ˌlei.diz ən ˈdʒɛn.tl̩.mən\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ladies and gentlemen" come from?
"ladies and gentlemen" 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 “ladies and gentlemen”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is L-A-D-I-E-S- -A-N-D- -G-E-N-T-L-E-M-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ˌlei.diz ən ˈdʒɛn.tl̩.mən\ (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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list