retenir sa respiration
\ʁə.tə.niʁ sa ʁɛs.pi.ʁa.sjɔ̃\
The verdict
“retenir sa respiration” 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
- 22
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - S’arrêter temporairement et volontairement de respirer.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | retenir sa respiration |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \ʁə.tə.niʁ sa ʁɛs.pi.ʁa.sjɔ̃\ |
| Letters | 22 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “retenir sa respiration” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for retenir sa respiration is 22 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʁə.tə.niʁ sa ʁɛs.pi.ʁa.sjɔ̃\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for retenir sa respiration, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, 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 retenir sa respiration, spelled R-E-T-E-N-I-R- -S-A- -R-E-S-P-I-R-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1S’arrêter temporairement et volontairement de respirer.
- 2Ne pas faire de bruit, être le plus silencieux possible.
Synonyms
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
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Using “retenir sa respiration”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is R-E-T-E-N-I-R- -S-A- -R-E-S-P-I-R-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ʁə.tə.niʁ sa ʁɛs.pi.ʁa.sjɔ̃\ (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.