se tenir coi
\sə tə.niʁ kwa\
The verdict
“se tenir coi” 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) - Se tenir tranquille ; éviter de se faire remarquer.
Corpus desk
Index FR-se-tenir-coi · se tenir coi · French
se tenir coi · 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 "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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | se tenir coi |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \sə tə.niʁ kwa\ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « se tenir coi » en français
Rare enough to double-check
se tenir coi is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \sə tə.niʁ kwa\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for se tenir coi, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is se tenir coi, spelled S-E- -T-E-N-I-R- -C-O-I.
Definition
- 1Se tenir tranquille ; éviter de se faire remarquer.
- 2Ne pas ne se manifester, rester normal.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how se tenir coi appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
L'équipage du corsaire était silencieux et prêt, en cas de résistance, à dévorer le pauvre bâtiment marchand, qui, heureusement pour lui, se tint coi, semblable à un écolier pris en faute par son maître.
Il y fut si effrayé de la cherté de la vie et des moindres babioles, qu’il s’était tenu coi dans son méchant hôtel.
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.