pie-grièche

\pi.ɡʁi.jɛʃ\

/\pi.ɡʁi.jɛʃ\/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Passereau au bec assez fort, au plumage souvent gris ou brun et avec du blanc et du noir et au cri aigu.

Corpus desk

Index FR-pie-grieche · pie-grièche · French

pie-grièche · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 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 pie-grièche
PropertyValue
Headwordpie-grièche
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pi.ɡʁi.jɛʃ\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « pie-grièche » en français

pie-grièchereste 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

pie-grièche is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \pi.ɡʁi.jɛʃ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

pie-grièche has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is pie-grièche, spelled P-I-E---G-R-I-È-C-H-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Passereau au bec assez fort, au plumage souvent gris ou brun et avec du blanc et du noir et au cri aigu.
  2. 2
    Femme criarde et querelleuse.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sur des perchoirs scellés dans la muraille étaient deux ou trois faucons de choix et une petite pie-grièche avec laquelle Charles IX s’amusait à voler les petits oiseaux dans le jardin du Louvre.
  2. Alors, elle prenait à témoin la pie-grièche cachée dans l’aubépine ou la mésange à longue queue qui penchait la tête pour l’écouter.

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 "pie-grièche"?
"pie-grièche" is spelled P-I-E---G-R-I-È-C-H-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pi.ɡʁi.jɛʃ\.
What does "pie-grièche" mean?
As a noun, "pie-grièche" means: Passereau au bec assez fort, au plumage souvent gris ou brun et avec du blanc et du noir et au cri aigu.
How do you pronounce "pie-grièche"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pie-grièche" is \pi.ɡʁi.jɛʃ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pie-grièche" come from?
"pie-grièche" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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