sec comme un cent de clous
\sɛk kɔ.m‿œ̃ sɑ̃ də klu\
The verdict
“sec comme un cent de clous” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 26
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Très maigre.
Corpus desk
Index FR-sec-comme-un-cent-de-clo · sec comme un cent de clous · French
sec comme un cent de clous · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 26 letters
- VOW-8 8 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 | sec comme un cent de clous |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \sɛk kɔ.m‿œ̃ sɑ̃ də klu\ |
| Letters | 26 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sec comme un cent de clous” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
sec comme un cent de clous is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \sɛk kɔ.m‿œ̃ sɑ̃ də klu\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Très maigre.".
Zero misspellings are on record for sec comme un cent de clous in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is sec comme un cent de clous, spelled S-E-C- -C-O-M-M-E- -U-N- -C-E-N-T- -D-E- -C-L-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Très maigre.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how sec comme un cent de clous appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Sec comme un cent de clous, les bras comme des allumettes, les tibias comme des fuseaux, les jointures en fil de fer, et grimaçant et claquant comme un lot de pantins de bois à la porte d’un bazar.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
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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.