laisser passer

\lɛ.se pa.se\

/\lɛ.se pa.se\/ verb

The verdict

“laisser passer” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Ne pas reprendre, ne pas blâmer, une proposition, une parole, une action.

Corpus desk

Index FR-laisser-passer · laisser passer · French

laisser passer · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for laisser passer
PropertyValue
Headwordlaisser passer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\lɛ.se pa.se\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « laisser passer » en français

laisser passersiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

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

Rare enough to double-check

laisser passer is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \lɛ.se pa.se\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

laisser passer has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

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. The correct French form is laisser passer, spelled L-A-I-S-S-E-R- -P-A-S-S-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Ne pas reprendre, ne pas blâmer, une proposition, une parole, une action.
  2. 2
    Ne pas remarquer, ne pas apercevoir, une faute, une erreur.
  3. 3
    Ne pas donner de suite favorable.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how laisser passer appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Quoi ! Vous avez laissé passer cette extravagance ?
  2. Laissera-t-on passer un livre si dangereux sans le réfuter ?

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "laisser passer"?
"laisser passer" is spelled L-A-I-S-S-E-R- -P-A-S-S-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \lɛ.se pa.se\.
What does "laisser passer" mean?
As a verb, "laisser passer" means: Ne pas reprendre, ne pas blâmer, une proposition, une parole, une action.
How do you pronounce "laisser passer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "laisser passer" is \lɛ.se pa.se\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "laisser passer" come from?
"laisser passer" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list