ouvre-lettres

\u.vʁə.lɛtʁ\

/\u.vʁə.lɛtʁ\/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Instrument en bois, en métal ou en toute autre matière, qui sert à couper le papier et spécialement les enveloppes.

Corpus desk

Index FR-ouvre-lettres · ouvre-lettres · French

ouvre-lettres · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "O" 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.

Key facts for ouvre-lettres
PropertyValue
Headwordouvre-lettres
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\u.vʁə.lɛtʁ\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « ouvre-lettres » en français

ouvre-lettressiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ouvre-lettres is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \u.vʁə.lɛtʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Instrument en bois, en métal ou en toute autre matière, qui sert à couper le papier et spécialement les enveloppes.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for ouvre-lettres, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. 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.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is ouvre-lettres, spelled O-U-V-R-E---L-E-T-T-R-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Instrument en bois, en métal ou en toute autre matière, qui sert à couper le papier et spécialement les enveloppes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Il a été poignardé, vraisemblablement dans la journée d’hier ou au début de la nuit, selon les premières constatations médicales, à l’aide d’un ouvre-lettres lui appartenant.
  2. Xavier Yaris (X Y pour ses amis de plus en plus rares) saisit son ouvre-lettres, petite épée de style castillan, pommeau finement ciselé et lame effilée.

Synonyms

coupe-papiercouteau à papierouvre-papierouvre-papiers

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 "ouvre-lettres"?
"ouvre-lettres" is spelled O-U-V-R-E---L-E-T-T-R-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is \u.vʁə.lɛtʁ\.
What does "ouvre-lettres" mean?
As a noun, "ouvre-lettres" means: Instrument en bois, en métal ou en toute autre matière, qui sert à couper le papier et spécialement les enveloppes.
How do you pronounce "ouvre-lettres"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ouvre-lettres" is \u.vʁə.lɛtʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ouvre-lettres" come from?
"ouvre-lettres" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list