poule mouillée

\pul mu.je\

/\pul mu.je\/ noun

The verdict

“poule mouillée” 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
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Personne qui manque de courage et de résolution.

Key facts for poule mouillée
PropertyValue
Headwordpoule mouillée
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pul mu.je\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “poule mouillée” sits in French frequency

poule mouillée falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for poule mouillée is 14 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pul mu.je\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Personne qui manque de courage et de résolution.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for poule mouillée in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is poule mouillée, spelled P-O-U-L-E- -M-O-U-I-L-L-É-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Personne qui manque de courage et de résolution.

Synonyms

mauviettepoule laitée

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 "poule mouillée"?
"poule mouillée" is spelled P-O-U-L-E- -M-O-U-I-L-L-É-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pul mu.je\.
What does "poule mouillée" mean?
As a noun, "poule mouillée" means: Personne qui manque de courage et de résolution.
How do you pronounce "poule mouillée"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "poule mouillée" is \pul mu.je\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "poule mouillée" come from?
"poule mouillée" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Using “poule mouillée”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is P-O-U-L-E- -M-O-U-I-L-L-É-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \pul mu.je\ (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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list