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recherche

French, noun

recherche is spelled R-E-C-H-E-R-C-H-E (9 letters) and appears 166 times per million words in written French, the 491st most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Recherche is a French feminine noun meaning “research” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of rechercher. With an accent, recherché is a different word: “prized, valued”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Action de rechercher”.

What does recherche mean in English?

noun

  1. 1

    feminineresearch

  2. 2

    femininesearch

verb

  1. 1

    first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive

  2. 2

    second-person singular imperative

adjective

as recherché
  1. 1

    prized, valued

  2. 2

    desired, coveted

  3. 3

    meticulous (evidencing careful or laborious effort)

  4. 4

    obtained or achieved by careful or laborious effort; immaculate, sharp, well-groomed

  5. 5

    evidencing careful reflection or studious research; refined, sophisticated, exquisite

  6. 6

    derogatoryunnatural, affected, contrived, overwrought, labored, tortured (as an obvious result of excessive effort or attempts at refinement)

verb

as recherché
  1. 1

    past participle of rechercher

Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How French dictionaries define it

adjective: 1. Où il entre du raffinement. 2. Où le travail et l’art se font trop sentir, qui manquent de naturel, où il y a de l’affectation. 3. Se dit d’une personne l’on recherche, un fugitif ou un disparu. 4. Que l’on recherche, qui est souhaitable.

noun: 1. Action de rechercher. 2. Travaux de science et d’érudition. Publication de ces travaux. 3. Enquête. 4. Enquête judiciaire.

The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.

Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.

Forms of recherche

  • recherchée feminine
  • recherchés masculine plural
  • recherchées feminine plural
  • recherches plural

Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

English words that translate to recherche

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is recherche in French?

recherche appears 166 times per million words in written French.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

What to look up after recherche