rocambolesque
French, adjective/ʁɔ.kɑ̃.bɔ.lɛsk/
rocambolesque is spelled R-O-C-A-M-B-O-L-E-S-Q-U-E (13 letters) and appears about once in every 2 million words in written French, the 48,990th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Rocambolesque is a French adjective meaning “fantastic, unusual, incredible, wacky” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Qui est plein de rebondissements, d’aventures remplies de péripéties invraisemblables, extraordinaires”.
What does rocambolesque mean in English?
adjective
- 1
fantastic, unusual, incredible, wacky
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui est plein de rebondissements, d’aventures remplies de péripéties invraisemblables, extraordinaires.
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 rocambolesque
- rocambolesques plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce rocambolesque?
- /ʁɔ.kɑ̃.bɔ.lɛsk/
- \ʁɔ.kɑ̃.bɔ.lɛsk\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is rocambolesque in French?
rocambolesque appears about once in every 2 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).