pince-oreille
\pɛ̃.sɔ.ʁɛj\
The verdict
“pince-oreille” 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 May 6, 2026) - Nom vulgaire de la forficule auriculaire, insecte ainsi nommé à cause des deux crochets ou cerques en forme de tenaille à l'extrémité de son abdomen.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pince-oreille |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \pɛ̃.sɔ.ʁɛj\ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pince-oreille” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
pince-oreille is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \pɛ̃.sɔ.ʁɛj\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Nom vulgaire de la forficule auriculaire, insecte ainsi nommé à cause des deux crochets ou cerques en forme de tenaille à l'extrémité de son abdomen.".
Zero misspellings are on record for pince-oreille in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is pince-oreille, spelled P-I-N-C-E---O-R-E-I-L-L-E.
Definition
- 1Nom vulgaire de la forficule auriculaire, insecte ainsi nommé à cause des deux crochets ou cerques en forme de tenaille à l'extrémité de son abdomen.
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
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Using “pince-oreille”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is P-I-N-C-E---O-R-E-I-L-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \pɛ̃.sɔ.ʁɛj\ (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
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.