pince-nez
\pɛ̃s.ne\
The verdict
“pince-nez” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Binocle à ressort qui se fixe sur le nez.
Corpus desk
Index FR-pince-nez · pince-nez · French
pince-nez · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pince-nez |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \pɛ̃s.ne\ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « pince-nez » en français
Rare enough to double-check
pince-nez is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \pɛ̃s.ne\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
pince-nez has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is pince-nez, spelled P-I-N-C-E---N-E-Z.
Definition
- 1Binocle à ressort qui se fixe sur le nez.
- 2Ressort se fixant sur les narines et empêchant l’eau de pénétrer dans le nez.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pince-nez appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Pour recouvrer son équilibre il fit un brusque mouvement, qui précipita son pince-nez, toute attache rompue, dans le coin de l’étroit vestibule que forme le couloir devant la porte des commodités.
Dans le grand fauteuil de reps, il est resté assis. Les deux miroirs ovales du pince-nez ouvert brillent sur sa poitrine, et sa singulière lèvre en margelle dépasse un peu, rouge, sa moustache qui rejoint sa barbe. Là il est fixé, à jamais.
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.