laugh

\lɑːf\

/\lɑːf\/ noun

The verdict

“laugh” is uncommon French (frequency #67,653 among 2,567 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,653
frequency rank, French
2,567
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Rire.

Corpus desk

Index FR-laugh · laugh · French

laugh · rank #67,653 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #67,653
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,567
  • PHOTO-FINISH lardon

Nearest frequency peer: lardon (-2 rank slots)

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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « laugh »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « laugh » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for laugh
PropertyValue
Headwordlaugh
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\lɑːf\
Letters5
Frequency rank#67,653
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « laugh » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).laughtombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « lardon » (#67,651), « Lavilliers » (#67,655), « languedocien » (#67,650). Parmi 2,567 lemmes en « L », « laugh » est au #67,653. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

laugh is uncommon French at frequency #67,653 among 2,567 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \lɑːf\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for laugh in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is laugh, spelled L-A-U-G-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Rire.
  2. 2
    Quelque chose d’amusant, ou, par extension, de ridicule.
  3. 3
    Se dit d’une personne marrante.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. “And this rug,” he says, stomping on an old rag carpet. “How much do you suppose that cost?” It was my first guess, so I said fifty dollars. “That’s a laugh,” he said. “I paid two thousand for that rug.”
  2. Outhwaite is a good laugh, yes, she knows how to smile: but deep down, she really is strong and stern.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "laugh"?
"laugh" is spelled L-A-U-G-H. The IPA pronunciation is \lɑːf\.
What does "laugh" mean?
As a noun, "laugh" means: Rire.
How do you pronounce "laugh"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "laugh" is \lɑːf\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "laugh" come from?
"laugh" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "laugh", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list