pseudo-science

\psø.do.sjɑ̃s\

/\psø.do.sjɑ̃s\/ noun

The verdict

“pseudo-science” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Démarche ou croyance faussement scientifique qui ne respecte pas les méthodes, ni les buts de la science, mais qui en prend l’apparence et le vocabulaire pour tromper le public.

Corpus desk

Index FR-pseudo-science · pseudo-science · French

pseudo-science · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-6 6 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.

Key facts for pseudo-science
PropertyValue
Headwordpseudo-science
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\psø.do.sjɑ̃s\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « pseudo-science » en français

pseudo-sciencereste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

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

Rare enough to double-check

pseudo-science is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \psø.do.sjɑ̃s\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Démarche ou croyance faussement scientifique qui ne respecte pas les méthodes, ni les buts de la science, mais qui en prend l’apparence et le vocabulaire pour tromper le public.".

No misspelling variants are generated for pseudo-science in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No documented word history exists for this headword, 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 pseudo-science, spelled P-S-E-U-D-O---S-C-I-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Démarche ou croyance faussement scientifique qui ne respecte pas les méthodes, ni les buts de la science, mais qui en prend l’apparence et le vocabulaire pour tromper le public.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how pseudo-science appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. La sociobiologie pourrait n'être qu'un avatar amusant de l'histoire des religions ou des pseudo-sciences. Malheureusement ses excès et la place qu'elle a usurpée dans les médias et dans les instances scientifiques de quelques pays tend à faire oublier les progrès considérables de la neurobiologie, de la physiologie du comportement et de l'éthologie animal…
  2. On dira que le critère est trop large lorsqu'il mène à inclure dans les sciences ce que la plupart des philosophes regardent comme des « pseudo-sciences » : la parapsychologie ou la voyance, par exemple.

Synonyms

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 "pseudo-science"?
"pseudo-science" is spelled P-S-E-U-D-O---S-C-I-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \psø.do.sjɑ̃s\.
What does "pseudo-science" mean?
As a noun, "pseudo-science" means: Démarche ou croyance faussement scientifique qui ne respecte pas les méthodes, ni les buts de la science, mais qui en prend l’apparence et le vocabulaire pour tromper le public.
How do you pronounce "pseudo-science"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pseudo-science" is \psø.do.sjɑ̃s\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pseudo-science" come from?
"pseudo-science" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list