mouton noir

\mu.tɔ̃ nwaʁ\

/\mu.tɔ̃ nwaʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“mouton noir” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Personne jugée indésirable, néfaste dans un groupe et qu’on tient à l’écart précisément pour cette raison.

Key facts for mouton noir
PropertyValue
Headwordmouton noir
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\mu.tɔ̃ nwaʁ\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mouton noir” sits in French frequency

mouton noir 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

mouton noir is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \mu.tɔ̃ nwaʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Personne jugée indésirable, néfaste dans un groupe et qu’on tient à l’écart précisément pour cette raison.".

No misspelling variants are generated for mouton noir in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is mouton noir, spelled M-O-U-T-O-N- -N-O-I-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Personne jugée indésirable, néfaste dans un groupe et qu’on tient à l’écart précisément pour cette raison.

Synonyms

brebis galeusevilain petit canard

This word in other languages

black sheep(English)oveja negra(Español)schwarzes Schaf(Deutsch)ovelha negra(Português)

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 "mouton noir"?
"mouton noir" is spelled M-O-U-T-O-N- -N-O-I-R. The IPA pronunciation is \mu.tɔ̃ nwaʁ\.
What does "mouton noir" mean?
As a noun, "mouton noir" means: Personne jugée indésirable, néfaste dans un groupe et qu’on tient à l’écart précisément pour cette raison.
How do you pronounce "mouton noir"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mouton noir" is \mu.tɔ̃ nwaʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mouton noir" come from?
"mouton noir" 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 “mouton noir”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is M-O-U-T-O-N- -N-O-I-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \mu.tɔ̃ nwaʁ\ (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