mal tourner

\mal tuʁ.ne\

/\mal tuʁ.ne\/ verb

The verdict

“mal tourner” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. 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) - Changer défavorablement, contrairement à ce qui était attendu.

Corpus desk

Index FR-mal-tourner · mal tourner · French

mal tourner · 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 "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 tourner
PropertyValue
Headwordmal tourner
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\mal tuʁ.ne\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « mal tourner » en français

mal tournersiège 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

mal tourner is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \mal tuʁ.ne\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Changer défavorablement, contrairement à ce qui était attendu.".

Zero misspellings are on record for mal tourner in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, 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 mal tourner, spelled M-A-L- -T-O-U-R-N-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Changer défavorablement, contrairement à ce qui était attendu.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Les mendiants, les sans-pain, les va-nu-pieds filoutent aisément, et vos frères tourneront mal…
  2. — C’est bon ! Mais faudra pas venir pleurer, après, si vos gosses tournent mal.

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 "mal tourner"?
"mal tourner" is spelled M-A-L- -T-O-U-R-N-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \mal tuʁ.ne\.
What does "mal tourner" mean?
As a verb, "mal tourner" means: Changer défavorablement, contrairement à ce qui était attendu.
How do you pronounce "mal tourner"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mal tourner" is \mal tuʁ.ne\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mal tourner" come from?
"mal tourner" 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