mal à l’aise

\ma.l‿a l‿ɛz\

/\ma.l‿a l‿ɛz\/ adj

The verdict

“mal à l’aise” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
12
letters

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

Corpus desk

Index FR-mal-a-l-aise · mal à l’aise · French

mal à l’aise · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "M" 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 mal à l’aise
PropertyValue
Headwordmal à l’aise
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ma.l‿a l‿ɛz\
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « mal à l’aise » en français

mal à l’aisen'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

Rare enough to double-check

mal à l’aise is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ma.l‿a l‿ɛz\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Incommodé ; gêné.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for mal à l’aise, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is mal à l’aise, spelled M-A-L- -À- -L-’-A-I-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Incommodé ; gêné.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ce matin-là, dans le petit jour d’un hiver pluvieux, cinglé d’une bise aigre, à Chartres, Durtal, frissonnant, mal à l’aise, quitta la terrasse, se réfugia dans des allées mieux abritées, […].
  2. Des chut ! s’élevèrent aussitôt, mais les deux acrobates avaient compris l’allusion et ils se sentirent mal à l’aise.

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 "mal à l’aise"?
"mal à l’aise" is spelled M-A-L- -À- -L-’-A-I-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ma.l‿a l‿ɛz\.
What does "mal à l’aise" mean?
As an adjective, "mal à l’aise" means: Incommodé ; gêné.
How do you pronounce "mal à l’aise"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mal à l’aise" is \ma.l‿a l‿ɛz\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mal à l’aise" come from?
"mal à l’aise" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list