laids comme des poux

\lɛ kɔm de pu\

/\lɛ kɔm de pu\/ adj

The verdict

“laids comme des poux” 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
20
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) — Masculin pluriel de laid comme un pou.

Key facts for laids comme des poux
PropertyValue
Headwordlaids comme des poux
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\lɛ kɔm de pu\
Letters20
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “laids comme des poux” sits in French frequency

laids comme des poux 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 laids comme des poux is 20 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \lɛ kɔm de pu\. 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: "Masculin pluriel de laid comme un pou.".

No misspelling variants are generated for laids comme des poux 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 laids comme des poux, spelled L-A-I-D-S- -C-O-M-M-E- -D-E-S- -P-O-U-X, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Masculin pluriel de laid comme un pou.

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, “laids comme des poux, 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/laids-comme-des-poux

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "laids comme des poux"?
"laids comme des poux" is spelled L-A-I-D-S- -C-O-M-M-E- -D-E-S- -P-O-U-X. The IPA pronunciation is \lɛ kɔm de pu\.
What does "laids comme des poux" mean?
As an adjective, "laids comme des poux" means: Masculin pluriel de laid comme un pou.
How do you pronounce "laids comme des poux"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "laids comme des poux" is \lɛ kɔm de pu\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "laids comme des poux" come from?
"laids comme des poux" 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 “laids comme des poux”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is L-A-I-D-S- -C-O-M-M-E- -D-E-S- -P-O-U-X - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \lɛ kɔm de pu\ (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:

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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