macareux

\ma.ka.ʁø\

/\ma.ka.ʁø\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“macareux” is uncommon French (frequency #92,957 among 5,038 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#92,957
frequency rank, French
5,038
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Oiseau marin de la famille des alcidés au plumage noir et blanc et au bec coloré, vivant en colonies dans les régions tempérées fraîches de l'Atlantique et du Pacifique nord.

Corpus desk

Index FR-macareux · macareux · French

macareux · rank #92,957 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #92,957
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,038
  • PHOTO-FINISH macadamia

Nearest frequency peer: macadamia (-1 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 « macareux »

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 « macareux » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for macareux
PropertyValue
Headwordmacareux
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ma.ka.ʁø\
Letters8
Frequency rank#92,957
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « macareux » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.macareuxtombe 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: « macadamia » (#92,956), « Maaloula » (#92,955), « madina » (#92,960). Parmi 5,038 lemmes en « M », « macareux » est au #92,957. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

macareux is uncommon French at frequency #92,957 among 5,038 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ma.ka.ʁø\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Oiseau marin de la famille des alcidés au plumage noir et blanc et au bec coloré, vivant en colonies dans les régions tempérées fraîches de l'Atlantique et du Pacifique nord.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for macareux, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is macareux, spelled M-A-C-A-R-E-U-X.

Definition

  1. 1
    Oiseau marin de la famille des alcidés au plumage noir et blanc et au bec coloré, vivant en colonies dans les régions tempérées fraîches de l'Atlantique et du Pacifique nord.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. L’informe macareux, qui semble la caricature d'une caricature, le perroquet lui ressemble par un gros bec, mal dégrossi, mais sans tranchant ni force, sans queue et mal équilibré, il peut toujours être emporté par le poids de sa grosse tête. Il se hasarde à voleter pourtant au risque des culbutes. Il plane noblement tout près de terre et fait l’envie peut…
  2. L’Islande est un lieu de séjour préférentiel pour les oiseaux de mer : sternes, macareux, fous de Bassan et bien d’autres.

Synonyms

lunde

This word in other languages

puffin(English)

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 "macareux"?
"macareux" is spelled M-A-C-A-R-E-U-X. The IPA pronunciation is \ma.ka.ʁø\.
What does "macareux" mean?
As a noun, "macareux" means: Oiseau marin de la famille des alcidés au plumage noir et blanc et au bec coloré, vivant en colonies dans les régions tempérées fraîches de l'Atlantique et du Pacifique nord.
How do you pronounce "macareux"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "macareux" is \ma.ka.ʁø\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "macareux" come from?
"macareux" 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 "macareux", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Maaloula#92,955madrague#92,961maillets#92,965malaisée#92,966

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list