pâteux

\pɑ.tø\

/\pɑ.tø\/ adj

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

The verdict

“pâteux” is uncommon French (frequency #78,774 among 6,826 “P” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#78,774
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui a la consistance ou l'aspect de la pâte.

Corpus desk

Index FR-pateux · pâteux · French

pâteux · rank #78,774 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #78,774
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH pyrénéennes

Nearest frequency peer: pyrénéennes (-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 « pâteux »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for pâteux
PropertyValue
Headwordpâteux
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\pɑ.tø\
Letters6
Frequency rank#78,774
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « pâteux » en français

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

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « pyrénéennes » (#78,773), « pénétrez » (#78,775), « quadrupède » (#78,776). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « pâteux » est au #78,774. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

pâteux is uncommon French at frequency #78,774 among 6,826 “P” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \pɑ.tø\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 8 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for pâteux in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

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 pâteux, spelled P-Â-T-E-U-X.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui a la consistance ou l'aspect de la pâte.
  2. 2
    Se dit du pain qui n’est pas assez levé ou pas assez cuit.
  3. 3
    Qualifie les choses qui font dans la bouche le même effet que ferait de la pâte.
  4. 4
    Qualifie un liquide dans lequel des matières en suspens empêchent son entière liquidité.
  5. 5
    Qualifie la bouche, ou ce qui en a trait, lorsqu’elle semble empâtée d’une salive épaisse.
  6. 6
    Qualifie un style mou, lourd, filandreux.
  7. 7
    Qualifie une parole embarrassée.
  8. 8
    Qui semble avoir été peint d'un pinceau empâté.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ce pain est pâteux.
  2. Ce fruit a la chair pâteuse.

This word in other languages

pasty(English)pastoso(Español)pappig(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 "pâteux"?
"pâteux" is spelled P-Â-T-E-U-X. The IPA pronunciation is \pɑ.tø\.
What does "pâteux" mean?
As an adjective, "pâteux" means: Qui a la consistance ou l'aspect de la pâte.
How do you pronounce "pâteux"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pâteux" is \pɑ.tø\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pâteux" come from?
"pâteux" 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 "pâteux", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

rififi#78,809Rijeka#78,810rostre#78,814rovers#78,817

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list