noueux

\nwø\

/\nwø\/ adj

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

The verdict

“noueux” is uncommon French (frequency #85,063 among 1,563 “N” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#85,063
frequency rank, French
1,563
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui a beaucoup de nœuds, en parlant du bois.

Corpus desk

Index FR-noueux · noueux · French

noueux · rank #85,063 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #85,063
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,563
  • PHOTO-FINISH nort

Nearest frequency peer: nort (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « noueux »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « noueux » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for noueux
PropertyValue
Headwordnoueux
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\nwø\
Letters6
Frequency rank#85,063
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « noueux » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).noueuxtombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « nort » (#85,062), « noya » (#85,064), « nonciature » (#85,061). Parmi 1,563 lemmes en « N », « noueux » est au #85,063. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

noueux is uncommon French at frequency #85,063 among 1,563 “N” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \nwø\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for noueux, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is noueux, spelled N-O-U-E-U-X.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui a beaucoup de nœuds, en parlant du bois.
  2. 2
    Dont les articulations présentent des nodosités, en parlant d’une personne.
  3. 3
    Qui produit des nodosités.
  4. 4
    Se dit d’un meuble héraldique présentant à sa surface des nœuds de branches ou des écots.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how noueux appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Le hêtre n’est pas si noueux que le chêne. — Un bâton noueux.
  2. Une énergie impitoyable reposait dans ses yeux glauques, plus froids que des yeux de verre. Il avait les pommettes saillantes, et des mains à articulations noueuses.

Synonyms

ligneux

This word in other languages

knobbly(English)knorrig(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "noueux"?
"noueux" is spelled N-O-U-E-U-X. The IPA pronunciation is \nwø\.
What does "noueux" mean?
As an adjective, "noueux" means: Qui a beaucoup de nœuds, en parlant du bois.
How do you pronounce "noueux"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "noueux" is \nwø\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "noueux" come from?
"noueux" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "noueux", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ogival#85,073ordine#85,081Ormond#85,084ovalie#85,093

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list