rétropédaler

\ʁe.tʁo.pe.da.le\

/\ʁe.tʁo.pe.da.le\/ verb

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pédaler dans le sens contraire au sens de marche.

Corpus desk

Index FR-retropedaler · rétropédaler · French

rétropédaler · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 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 rétropédaler
PropertyValue
Headwordrétropédaler
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ʁe.tʁo.pe.da.le\
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « rétropédaler » en français

rétropédalern'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

Rare enough to double-check

rétropédaler is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \ʁe.tʁo.pe.da.le\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

rétropédaler doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is rétropédaler, spelled R-É-T-R-O-P-É-D-A-L-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pédaler dans le sens contraire au sens de marche.
  2. 2
    Pédaler en sens inverse pour reculer (faire marche arrière)
  3. 3
    Renoncer, faire machine arrière, opérer un revirement.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Quand on en a goûté on a peine à revenir aux anciens systèmes, les manettes et poignées de commande paraissent barbares et primitives et d’instincts on renverse le mouvement des jambes pour changer la multiplication et rétropédaler.
  2. Il convient de remarquer qu'il existe un cas où l'on peut "rétropédaler" efficacement, c'est avec un pédalo

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 "rétropédaler"?
"rétropédaler" is spelled R-É-T-R-O-P-É-D-A-L-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁe.tʁo.pe.da.le\.
What does "rétropédaler" mean?
As a verb, "rétropédaler" means: Pédaler dans le sens contraire au sens de marche.
How do you pronounce "rétropédaler"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "rétropédaler" is \ʁe.tʁo.pe.da.le\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "rétropédaler" come from?
"rétropédaler" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list