passer ses nerfs
\pa.se sɛ nɛʁ\
The verdict
“passer ses nerfs” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 16
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Traiter de manière brusque quelqu'un ou quelque chose pour se calmer.
Corpus desk
Index FR-passer-ses-nerfs · passer ses nerfs · French
passer ses nerfs · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 16 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | passer ses nerfs |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \pa.se sɛ nɛʁ\ |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « passer ses nerfs » en français
Rare enough to double-check
passer ses nerfs is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \pa.se sɛ nɛʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Traiter de manière brusque quelqu'un ou quelque chose pour se calmer.".
No misspelling variants are generated for passer ses nerfs in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is passer ses nerfs, spelled P-A-S-S-E-R- -S-E-S- -N-E-R-F-S.
Definition
- 1Traiter de manière brusque quelqu'un ou quelque chose pour se calmer.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how passer ses nerfs appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Le chef de service n'arrête pas de passer ses nerfs sur ses subordonnés.
Oui j'ai déchiqueté le carton, mais il fallait que je passe mes nerfs sur quelque chose.
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.