thrips

\tʁips\

/\tʁips\/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Insecte piqueur-suceur, de l’ordre des Thysanoptères (Thysanoptera), ptérygotes hétérométaboles de taille minuscule, au corps allongé.

Corpus desk

Index FR-thrips · thrips · French

thrips · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" 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 thrips
PropertyValue
Headwordthrips
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\tʁips\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « thrips » en français

thripsreste 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

thrips is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \tʁips\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Insecte piqueur-suceur, de l’ordre des Thysanoptères (Thysanoptera), ptérygotes hétérométaboles de taille minuscule, au corps allongé.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for thrips, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is thrips, spelled T-H-R-I-P-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Insecte piqueur-suceur, de l’ordre des Thysanoptères (Thysanoptera), ptérygotes hétérométaboles de taille minuscule, au corps allongé.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how thrips appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Pourtant, ces insectes pourraient remplir ce rôle pollinisateur de longue date puisque des thrips portant des grains de pollen (de Cycadales ou Ginkgoales) ont été observés dans de l’ambre provenant d’Espagne et datée du début du Crétacé.
  2. Des fleurs de plus en plus rares chaque année, les pommes attaquées par les thrips et dévorées par les vers.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

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 "thrips"?
"thrips" is spelled T-H-R-I-P-S. The IPA pronunciation is \tʁips\.
What does "thrips" mean?
As a noun, "thrips" means: Insecte piqueur-suceur, de l’ordre des Thysanoptères (Thysanoptera), ptérygotes hétérométaboles de taille minuscule, au corps allongé.
How do you pronounce "thrips"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "thrips" is \tʁips\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "thrips" come from?
"thrips" 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