petite guerre

noun

The verdict

“petite guerre” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Manœuvres militaires, simulacre de guerre, dans lequel des corps d’une même armée manœuvrent et feignent de combattre les uns contre les autres.

Corpus desk

Index FR-petite-guerre · petite guerre · French

petite guerre · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 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.

Key facts for petite guerre
PropertyValue
Headwordpetite guerre
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « petite guerre » en français

petite guerrereste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

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

Rare enough to double-check

petite guerre is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for petite guerre, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is petite guerre, spelled P-E-T-I-T-E- -G-U-E-R-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Manœuvres militaires, simulacre de guerre, dans lequel des corps d’une même armée manœuvrent et feignent de combattre les uns contre les autres.
  2. 2
    Guérilla, conflit qui se fait par détachements ou par partis, dans le dessein d’observer les démarches de l’ennemi, de l’incommoder, de le harceler.
  3. 3
    Jeu d’enfants qui est une imitation de ces manœuvres.
  4. 4
    Rivalité.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Il faut désauvager (je ne sais si le vocable existe) les tribus en faisant cesser les petites discordes intérieures, les éternelles petites guerres qui portent à la famille une grave atteinte.
  2. Jouer à la petite guerre.

Synonyms

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 "petite guerre"?
"petite guerre" is spelled P-E-T-I-T-E- -G-U-E-R-R-E.
What does "petite guerre" mean?
As a noun, "petite guerre" means: Manœuvres militaires, simulacre de guerre, dans lequel des corps d’une même armée manœuvrent et feignent de combattre les uns contre les autres.
What language does "petite guerre" come from?
"petite guerre" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list