rapide comme l’éclair

\ʁa.pid kɔm le.klɛʁ\

/\ʁa.pid kɔm le.klɛʁ\/ adj

The verdict

“rapide comme l’éclair” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
21
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Très prompt, qui va vite.

Corpus desk

Index FR-rapide-comme-l-eclair · rapide comme l’éclair · French

rapide comme l’éclair · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 21 letters
  • VOW-8 8 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "R" 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 rapide comme l’éclair
PropertyValue
Headwordrapide comme l’éclair
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ʁa.pid kɔm le.klɛʁ\
Letters21
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « rapide comme l’éclair » en français

rapide comme l’éclairreste 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

rapide comme l’éclair is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ʁa.pid kɔm le.klɛʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Très prompt, qui va vite.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for rapide comme l’éclair, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is rapide comme l’éclair, spelled R-A-P-I-D-E- -C-O-M-M-E- -L-’-É-C-L-A-I-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Très prompt, qui va vite.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how rapide comme l’éclair appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Prenez mon phaéton, qui est léger comme une plume, et mon Morello (cheval noirâtre), qui est rapide comme l’éclair;

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 "rapide comme l’éclair"?
"rapide comme l’éclair" is spelled R-A-P-I-D-E- -C-O-M-M-E- -L-’-É-C-L-A-I-R. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁa.pid kɔm le.klɛʁ\.
What does "rapide comme l’éclair" mean?
As an adjective, "rapide comme l’éclair" means: Très prompt, qui va vite.
How do you pronounce "rapide comme l’éclair"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "rapide comme l’éclair" is \ʁa.pid kɔm le.klɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "rapide comme l’éclair" come from?
"rapide comme l’éclair" 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