sous-préfecture

\su.pʁe.fɛk.tyʁ\

/\su.pʁe.fɛk.tyʁ\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Portion de département qui renferme plusieurs cantons et qui est administrée par un sous-préfet.

Key facts for sous-préfecture
PropertyValue
Headwordsous-préfecture
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\su.pʁe.fɛk.tyʁ\
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sous-préfecture” sits in French frequency

sous-préfecture falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sous-préfecture is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \su.pʁe.fɛk.tyʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for sous-préfecture, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is sous-préfecture, spelled S-O-U-S---P-R-É-F-E-C-T-U-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Portion de département qui renferme plusieurs cantons et qui est administrée par un sous-préfet.
  2. 2
    Chef-lieu de la sous-préfecture.
  3. 3
    Demeure du sous-préfet, lieu où il a ses bureaux.
  4. 4
    Fonction de sous-préfet.

Synonyms

arrondissementchef-lieu d’arrondissement

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-préfecture"?
"sous-préfecture" is spelled S-O-U-S---P-R-É-F-E-C-T-U-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \su.pʁe.fɛk.tyʁ\.
What does "sous-préfecture" mean?
As a noun, "sous-préfecture" means: Portion de département qui renferme plusieurs cantons et qui est administrée par un sous-préfet.
How do you pronounce "sous-préfecture"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sous-préfecture" is \su.pʁe.fɛk.tyʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sous-préfecture" come from?
"sous-préfecture" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Using “sous-préfecture”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is S-O-U-S---P-R-É-F-E-C-T-U-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \su.pʁe.fɛk.tyʁ\ (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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list