petty
\ˈpɛ.tɪ\
The verdict
“petty” is uncommon French (frequency #58,157 among 248,534 “P” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #58,157
- frequency rank, French
- 248,534
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Petit, mesquin.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | petty |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \ˈpɛ.tɪ\ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #58,157 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “petty” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
petty is uncommon French at frequency #58,157 among 248,534 “P” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ˈpɛ.tɪ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
petty has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is petty, spelled P-E-T-T-Y.
Definition
- 1Petit, mesquin.
- 2Petit, secondaire en terme d'importance.
- 3Insignifiant.
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 “petty”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is P-E-T-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ˈpɛ.tɪ\ (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.