périphrase
\pe.ʁi.fʁaz\
The verdict
“périphrase” is uncommon French (frequency #71,836 among 248,534 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #71,836
- frequency rank, French
- 248,534
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Figure de style qui consiste à expliquer par une locution un nom, un objet, un lieu… ou dont on se sert pour exprimer ce qu’on ne veut pas dire directement, par exemple: L’oiseau de Jupiter pour l’...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | périphrase |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \pe.ʁi.fʁaz\ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #71,836 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “périphrase” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
périphrase is uncommon French at frequency #71,836 among 248,534 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \pe.ʁi.fʁaz\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for périphrase, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, 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 pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is périphrase, spelled P-É-R-I-P-H-R-A-S-E.
Definition
- 1Figure de style qui consiste à expliquer par une locution un nom, un objet, un lieu… ou dont on se sert pour exprimer ce qu’on ne veut pas dire directement, par exemple: L’oiseau de Jupiter pour l’aigle, les portes du matin pour l’orient, la ville lumière pour Paris, le roi soleil pour Louis XIV.
- 2Construction grammaticale qui, dans les langues analytiques, utilise plusieurs éléments au lieu d’un seul signifiant pour exprimer un signifié.
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
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Using “périphrase”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is P-É-R-I-P-H-R-A-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \pe.ʁi.fʁaz\ (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
Other uncommon French words near this rank
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.