sur les chapeaux de roues

\syʁ lɛ ʃa.po də ʁu\

/\syʁ lɛ ʃa.po də ʁu\/ adv

The verdict

“sur les chapeaux de roues” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
25
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Rapidement, voire trop vite, en parlant d’un véhicule qui démarre.

Corpus desk

Index FR-sur-les-chapeaux-de-roue · sur les chapeaux de roues · French

sur les chapeaux de roues · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 25 letters
  • VOW-10 10 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 sur les chapeaux de roues
PropertyValue
Headwordsur les chapeaux de roues
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\syʁ lɛ ʃa.po də ʁu\
Letters25
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « sur les chapeaux de roues » en français

sur les chapeaux de rouesreste 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

sur les chapeaux de roues is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \syʁ lɛ ʃa.po də ʁu\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for sur les chapeaux de roues, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is sur les chapeaux de roues, spelled S-U-R- -L-E-S- -C-H-A-P-E-A-U-X- -D-E- -R-O-U-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Rapidement, voire trop vite, en parlant d’un véhicule qui démarre.
  2. 2
    Très rapidement.
  3. 3
    Situation qui se déroule de manière peu commune et inattendue.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how sur les chapeaux de roues appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Cette voiture a démarré sur les chapeaux de roues.
  2. Un spectacle parti sur les chapeaux de roues et qui doit faire relâche, à pleine placé sur orbite, est un spectacle qui capote.

Synonyms

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 "sur les chapeaux de roues"?
"sur les chapeaux de roues" is spelled S-U-R- -L-E-S- -C-H-A-P-E-A-U-X- -D-E- -R-O-U-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is \syʁ lɛ ʃa.po də ʁu\.
What does "sur les chapeaux de roues" mean?
As an adverb, "sur les chapeaux de roues" means: Rapidement, voire trop vite, en parlant d’un véhicule qui démarre.
How do you pronounce "sur les chapeaux de roues"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sur les chapeaux de roues" is \syʁ lɛ ʃa.po də ʁu\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sur les chapeaux de roues" come from?
"sur les chapeaux de roues" 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