loup de mer

\lu d(ə) mɛʁ\

/\lu d(ə) mɛʁ\/ noun

The verdict

“loup de mer” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Marin endurci et expérimenté (surtout utilisé précédé de vieux).

Corpus desk

Index FR-loup-de-mer · loup de mer · French

loup de mer · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 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 loup de mer
PropertyValue
Headwordloup de mer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\lu d(ə) mɛʁ\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « loup de mer » en français

loup de mersiège 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

loup de mer is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \lu d(ə) mɛʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for loup de mer in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is loup de mer, spelled L-O-U-P- -D-E- -M-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Marin endurci et expérimenté (surtout utilisé précédé de vieux).
  2. 2
    Phoque de diverses espèces.
  3. 3
    Nom vernaculaire de plusieurs espèces de poissons de l’Atlantique Nord du genre Anarhichas, synonyme de loup de l’Atlantique (poisson).
  4. 4
    Synonyme de requin-renard commun (poisson).
  5. 5
    Une des espèces de poissons osseux marins (Atlantique et Méditerranée) ou d’eau saumâtre, carnivores, voisins des mérous, certains poissons des genres Dicentrarchus et Morone, appelés loups car ils sont voraces comme des loups.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. C’était le doyen des pêcheurs, l’oracle du village. Dans le coin, à sa gauche, quatre loups de mer s’étaient attablés.

Synonyms

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 "loup de mer"?
"loup de mer" is spelled L-O-U-P- -D-E- -M-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \lu d(ə) mɛʁ\.
What does "loup de mer" mean?
As a noun, "loup de mer" means: Marin endurci et expérimenté (surtout utilisé précédé de vieux).
How do you pronounce "loup de mer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "loup de mer" is \lu d(ə) mɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "loup de mer" come from?
"loup de mer" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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