ne pas y aller par quatre chemins

\nə pa.z‿i a.le paʁ ka.tʁ(ə) ʃə.mɛ̃\

/\nə pa.z‿i a.le paʁ ka.tʁ(ə) ʃə.mɛ̃\/ verb

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

The verdict

“ne pas y aller par quatre chemins” 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
33
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Aborder franchement et sans détour un sujet, une question, aller droit au but.

Key facts for ne pas y aller par quatre chemins
PropertyValue
Headwordne pas y aller par quatre chemins
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\nə pa.z‿i a.le paʁ ka.tʁ(ə) ʃə.mɛ̃\
Letters33
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ne pas y aller par quatre chemins” sits in French frequency

ne pas y aller par quatre chemins 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 ne pas y aller par quatre chemins is 33 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \nə pa.z‿i a.le paʁ ka.tʁ(ə) ʃə.mɛ̃\. 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: "Aborder franchement et sans détour un sujet, une question, aller droit au but.".

No misspelling variants are generated for ne pas y aller par quatre chemins in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, 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 to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is ne pas y aller par quatre chemins, spelled N-E- -P-A-S- -Y- -A-L-L-E-R- -P-A-R- -Q-U-A-T-R-E- -C-H-E-M-I-N-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Aborder franchement et sans détour un sujet, une question, aller droit au but.

Antonyms

tourner autour du pot

This word in other languages

beat around the bush(English)ir al grano(Español)

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 "ne pas y aller par quatre chemins"?
"ne pas y aller par quatre chemins" is spelled N-E- -P-A-S- -Y- -A-L-L-E-R- -P-A-R- -Q-U-A-T-R-E- -C-H-E-M-I-N-S. The IPA pronunciation is \nə pa.z‿i a.le paʁ ka.tʁ(ə) ʃə.mɛ̃\.
What does "ne pas y aller par quatre chemins" mean?
As a verb, "ne pas y aller par quatre chemins" means: Aborder franchement et sans détour un sujet, une question, aller droit au but.
How do you pronounce "ne pas y aller par quatre chemins"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ne pas y aller par quatre chemins" is \nə pa.z‿i a.le paʁ ka.tʁ(ə) ʃə.mɛ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ne pas y aller par quatre chemins" come from?
"ne pas y aller par quatre chemins" 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 “ne pas y aller par quatre chemins”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is N-E- -P-A-S- -Y- -A-L-L-E-R- -P-A-R- -Q-U-A-T-R-E- -C-H-E-M-I-N-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \nə pa.z‿i a.le paʁ ka.tʁ(ə) ʃə.mɛ̃\ (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