saudade

\so.dad\

/\so.dad\/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Sentiment de solitude, de regret, après la perte de ce qui réjouissait le cœur : patrie, maison, amis ou amant.

Corpus desk

Index FR-saudade · saudade · French

saudade · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" 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 saudade
PropertyValue
Headwordsaudade
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\so.dad\
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « saudade » en français

saudadereste 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

saudade is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \so.dad\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Sentiment de solitude, de regret, après la perte de ce qui réjouissait le cœur : patrie, maison, amis ou amant.".

No misspelling variants are generated for saudade in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, 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 saudade, spelled S-A-U-D-A-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Sentiment de solitude, de regret, après la perte de ce qui réjouissait le cœur : patrie, maison, amis ou amant.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Si le migrant se reconnaît par rapport à un univers symbolique, il s’attend à ce que tous les autres Portugais aient les mêmes liens nostalgiques, qu’ils éprouvent comme lui l’intraduisible sentiment de saudade.
  2. Connaître la saudade, c’est se survivre à soi-même, mort vivant : vivant dans le passé et comme mort en l’instant.

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 "saudade"?
"saudade" is spelled S-A-U-D-A-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is \so.dad\.
What does "saudade" mean?
As a noun, "saudade" means: Sentiment de solitude, de regret, après la perte de ce qui réjouissait le cœur : patrie, maison, amis ou amant.
How do you pronounce "saudade"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "saudade" is \so.dad\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "saudade" come from?
"saudade" 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