point noir
\pwɛ̃ nwaʁ\
The verdict
“point noir” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Comédon ouvert.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | point noir |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \pwɛ̃ nwaʁ\ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “point noir” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for point noir is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pwɛ̃ nwaʁ\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for point noir in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is point noir, spelled P-O-I-N-T- -N-O-I-R.
Definition
- 1Comédon ouvert.
- 2Nuage noir qui paraît dans un ciel clair et qui annonce l’orage.
- 3Toute circonstance qui, dans une situation d’ailleurs prospère, fait prévoir des troubles, des malheurs.
- 4Lieux d'accident
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 “point noir”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is P-O-I-N-T- -N-O-I-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \pwɛ̃ nwaʁ\ (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.