mauvaise langue
\mɔ.vɛz lɑ̃ɡ\
The verdict
“mauvaise langue” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Personne qui se plaît à médire.
Corpus desk
Index FR-mauvaise-langue · mauvaise langue · French
mauvaise langue · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 15 letters
- VOW-8 8 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | mauvaise langue |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \mɔ.vɛz lɑ̃ɡ\ |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « mauvaise langue » en français
Rare enough to double-check
mauvaise langue is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \mɔ.vɛz lɑ̃ɡ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Personne qui se plaît à médire.".
No misspelling variants are generated for mauvaise langue in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is mauvaise langue, spelled M-A-U-V-A-I-S-E- -L-A-N-G-U-E.
Definition
- 1Personne qui se plaît à médire.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how mauvaise langue appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
L'enfer ne brûle que les coupables, tandis qu'une mauvaise langue brûle les innocents encore plus que les coupables. L'enfer ne brûle que les ennemis de Jésus-Christ, tandis qu'une mauvaise langue, comme l'a remarqué saint Augustin, crucifie Jésus-Christ lui-même. L‘enfer est un effet de la justice de Dieu, tandis qu'une mauvaise langue est l'effet de la…
— Taisez-vous, mauvaise langue, interrompit doucement la baronne. Ici, nous aimons beaucoup Rosemonde, qui est une charmante femme.
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.