payer les pots cassés

\pe.je lɛ po ka.se\

/\pe.je lɛ po ka.se\/ verb

The verdict

“payer les pots cassés” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
21
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Payer les dommages matériels, subir les conséquences fâcheuses d’une affaire, d’une aventure, etc., endosser la responsabilité d’une action, assumer des faits souvent indépendants de sa volonté.

Key facts for payer les pots cassés
PropertyValue
Headwordpayer les pots cassés
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\pe.je lɛ po ka.se\
Letters21
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “payer les pots cassés” sits in French frequency

payer les pots cassés falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for payer les pots cassés is 21 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pe.je lɛ po ka.se\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Payer les dommages matériels, subir les conséquences fâcheuses d’une affaire, d’une aventure, etc., endosser la responsabilité d’une action, assumer des faits souvent indépendants de sa volonté.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for payer les pots cassés in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is payer les pots cassés, spelled P-A-Y-E-R- -L-E-S- -P-O-T-S- -C-A-S-S-É-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Payer les dommages matériels, subir les conséquences fâcheuses d’une affaire, d’une aventure, etc., endosser la responsabilité d’une action, assumer des faits souvent indépendants de sa volonté.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "payer les pots cassés"?
"payer les pots cassés" is spelled P-A-Y-E-R- -L-E-S- -P-O-T-S- -C-A-S-S-É-S. The IPA pronunciation is \pe.je lɛ po ka.se\.
What does "payer les pots cassés" mean?
As a verb, "payer les pots cassés" means: Payer les dommages matériels, subir les conséquences fâcheuses d’une affaire, d’une aventure, etc., endosser la responsabilité d’une action, assumer des faits souvent indépendants de sa volonté.
How do you pronounce "payer les pots cassés"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "payer les pots cassés" is \pe.je lɛ po ka.se\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "payer les pots cassés" come from?
"payer les pots cassés" 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.

Using “payer les pots cassés”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is P-A-Y-E-R- -L-E-S- -P-O-T-S- -C-A-S-S-É-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \pe.je lɛ po ka.se\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list