tenir tête

\tə.niʁ tɛt\

/\tə.niʁ tɛt\/ verb

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

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Se placer face au vent ou au courant.

Key facts for tenir tête
PropertyValue
Headwordtenir tête
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\tə.niʁ tɛt\
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tenir tête” sits in French frequency

tenir tête 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

tenir tête is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \tə.niʁ tɛt\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for tenir tête in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is tenir tête, spelled T-E-N-I-R- -T-Ê-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Se placer face au vent ou au courant.
  2. 2
    Résister à l’adversaire ; s’opposer avec fermeté à la volonté de quelqu’un ; ne pas céder.
  3. 3
    Résister ; ne pas céder.

Synonyms

faire tête

This word in other languages

stand up to(English)

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 "tenir tête"?
"tenir tête" is spelled T-E-N-I-R- -T-Ê-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is \tə.niʁ tɛt\.
What does "tenir tête" mean?
As a verb, "tenir tête" means: Se placer face au vent ou au courant.
How do you pronounce "tenir tête"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tenir tête" is \tə.niʁ tɛt\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tenir tête" come from?
"tenir tête" 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.

Using “tenir tête”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is T-E-N-I-R- -T-Ê-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \tə.niʁ tɛt\ (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