sous bois
\su bwɑ\
The verdict
“sous bois” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Lieu couvert, à l’ombre des arbres.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sous bois |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \su bwɑ\ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sous bois” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for sous bois is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \su bwɑ\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Lieu couvert, à l’ombre des arbres.".
sous bois has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is sous bois, spelled S-O-U-S- -B-O-I-S.
Definition
- 1Lieu couvert, à l’ombre des arbres.
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 "sous bois"?
What does "sous bois" mean?
How do you pronounce "sous bois"?
What language does "sous bois" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “sous bois”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is S-O-U-S- -B-O-I-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \su bwɑ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.