patauger

\pa.to.ʒe\

/\pa.to.ʒe\/ verb

The verdict

“patauger” is uncommon French (frequency #63,984 among 6,826 “P” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#63,984
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Marcher dans une eau bourbeuse.

Corpus desk

Index FR-patauger · patauger · French

patauger · rank #63,984 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #63,984
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH parodier

Nearest frequency peer: parodier (-2 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 « patauger »

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 « patauger » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for patauger
PropertyValue
Headwordpatauger
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\pa.to.ʒe\
Letters8
Frequency rank#63,984
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « patauger » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).pataugertombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « parodier » (#63,982), « patricien » (#63,986), « pardonnable » (#63,981). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « patauger » est au #63,984. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

patauger is uncommon French at frequency #63,984 among 6,826 “P” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed \pa.to.ʒe\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for patauger in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is patauger, spelled P-A-T-A-U-G-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Marcher dans une eau bourbeuse.
  2. 2
    S'amuser dans une eau peu profonde en la faisant éclabousser.
  3. 3
    S’embarrasser dans un raisonnement, dans un discours, dans une affaire.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Tournant sur le tronc, il fit tout de même demi-tour en reposant le pied libre ; mais pendant qu’il dépêtrait l’autre, le premier se réenfonçait de nouveau, de sorte qu’il déployait de surhumains efforts à patauger sur place, […].
  2. Nous sommes forcés d’aller au pas d’abord, et puis de descendre de cheval, abandonnant nos bêtes à leur inspiration personnelle pour ne nous occuper que de nous-mêmes. — Cela dure plus d’une heure ; nous perdons un temps précieux à patauger là dedans.

Synonyms

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); 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 "patauger"?
"patauger" is spelled P-A-T-A-U-G-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \pa.to.ʒe\.
What does "patauger" mean?
As a verb, "patauger" means: Marcher dans une eau bourbeuse.
How do you pronounce "patauger"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "patauger" is \pa.to.ʒe\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "patauger" come from?
"patauger" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list