prendre la tête

\pʁɑ̃.dʁə la tɛːt\

/\pʁɑ̃.dʁə la tɛːt\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“prendre la tête” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Prendre un poste de direction.

Key facts for prendre la tête
PropertyValue
Headwordprendre la tête
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\pʁɑ̃.dʁə la tɛːt\
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “prendre la tête” sits in French frequency

prendre la tête 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 prendre la tête is 15 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pʁɑ̃.dʁə la tɛːt\. 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.

No generated misspelling entries exist for prendre la tête in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is prendre la tête, spelled P-R-E-N-D-R-E- -L-A- -T-Ê-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Prendre un poste de direction.
  2. 2
    Se retrouver en première position d’une compétition non encore terminée.
  3. 3
    Faire perdre patience.
  4. 4
    Inquiéter vivement.

This word in other languages

entnerven(Deutsch)

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 "prendre la tête"?
"prendre la tête" is spelled P-R-E-N-D-R-E- -L-A- -T-Ê-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pʁɑ̃.dʁə la tɛːt\.
What does "prendre la tête" mean?
As a verb, "prendre la tête" means: Prendre un poste de direction.
How do you pronounce "prendre la tête"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "prendre la tête" is \pʁɑ̃.dʁə la tɛːt\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "prendre la tête" come from?
"prendre la tête" 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.

Using “prendre la tête”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is P-R-E-N-D-R-E- -L-A- -T-Ê-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \pʁɑ̃.dʁə la tɛːt\ (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