malin comme un singe

\ma.lɛ̃ kɔ.m‿œ̃ sɛ̃ʒ\

/\ma.lɛ̃ kɔ.m‿œ̃ sɛ̃ʒ\/ adj

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

The verdict

“malin comme un singe” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
20
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Astucieux.

Key facts for malin comme un singe
PropertyValue
Headwordmalin comme un singe
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ma.lɛ̃ kɔ.m‿œ̃ sɛ̃ʒ\
Letters20
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “malin comme un singe” sits in French frequency

malin comme un singe falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

malin comme un singe is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ma.lɛ̃ kɔ.m‿œ̃ sɛ̃ʒ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Astucieux.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for malin comme un singe, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, 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 malin comme un singe, spelled M-A-L-I-N- -C-O-M-M-E- -U-N- -S-I-N-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Astucieux.

Synonyms

rusé comme un singe

This word in other languages

crazy like a fox(English)

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 "malin comme un singe"?
"malin comme un singe" is spelled M-A-L-I-N- -C-O-M-M-E- -U-N- -S-I-N-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ma.lɛ̃ kɔ.m‿œ̃ sɛ̃ʒ\.
What does "malin comme un singe" mean?
As an adjective, "malin comme un singe" means: Astucieux.
How do you pronounce "malin comme un singe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "malin comme un singe" is \ma.lɛ̃ kɔ.m‿œ̃ sɛ̃ʒ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "malin comme un singe" come from?
"malin comme un singe" 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.

Using “malin comme un singe”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is M-A-L-I-N- -C-O-M-M-E- -U-N- -S-I-N-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ma.lɛ̃ kɔ.m‿œ̃ sɛ̃ʒ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list