tâtonnant
French, adjective/ta.tɔ.nɑ̃/
tâtonnant is spelled T-Â-T-O-N-N-A-N-T (9 letters) and appears about once in every 15 million words in written French, the 127,906th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Tâtonnant is a French adjective meaning “hesitant; tentative; proceeding by trial and error” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a present participle of tâtonner. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Qui progresse peu à peu, comme à tâtons”.
What does tâtonnant mean in English?
adjective
- 1
hesitant; tentative; proceeding by trial and error
verb
- 1
present participle of tâtonner
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui progresse peu à peu, comme à tâtons.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of tâtonnant
- tâtonnante feminine
- tâtonnants masculine plural
- tâtonnantes feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce tâtonnant?
- /ta.tɔ.nɑ̃/
- /tɑ.tɔ.nɑ̃/
- \ta.tɔ.nɑ̃\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is tâtonnant in French?
tâtonnant appears about once in every 15 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).