mettre en garde

\mɛtʁ‿ɑ̃ ɡaʁd\

/\mɛtʁ‿ɑ̃ ɡaʁd\/ verb

The verdict

“mettre en garde” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Conseiller la circonspection ; avertir d'un risque.

Key facts for mettre en garde
PropertyValue
Headwordmettre en garde
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\mɛtʁ‿ɑ̃ ɡaʁd\
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mettre en garde” sits in French frequency

mettre en garde 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.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for mettre en garde is 15 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \mɛtʁ‿ɑ̃ ɡaʁd\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Conseiller la circonspection ; avertir d'un risque.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for mettre en garde, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is mettre en garde, spelled M-E-T-T-R-E- -E-N- -G-A-R-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Conseiller la circonspection ; avertir d'un risque.

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 "mettre en garde"?
"mettre en garde" is spelled M-E-T-T-R-E- -E-N- -G-A-R-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is \mɛtʁ‿ɑ̃ ɡaʁd\.
What does "mettre en garde" mean?
As a verb, "mettre en garde" means: Conseiller la circonspection ; avertir d'un risque.
How do you pronounce "mettre en garde"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mettre en garde" is \mɛtʁ‿ɑ̃ ɡaʁd\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mettre en garde" come from?
"mettre en garde" 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.

Using “mettre en garde”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is M-E-T-T-R-E- -E-N- -G-A-R-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \mɛtʁ‿ɑ̃ ɡaʁd\ (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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list