tout à coup
\tu.t‿a ku\
The verdict
“tout à coup” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Soudainement ; en un moment.
Corpus desk
Index FR-tout-a-coup · tout à coup · French
tout à coup · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tout à coup |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \tu.t‿a ku\ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « tout à coup » en français
Rare enough to double-check
tout à coup is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \tu.t‿a ku\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Soudainement ; en un moment.".
tout à coup has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is tout à coup, spelled T-O-U-T- -À- -C-O-U-P.
Definition
- 1Soudainement ; en un moment.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tout à coup appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
En effet, un type en casquette traversa tout à coup la rue et vint prévenir qu’on pouvait y aller.
J’ai rêvé d’un ironiste qui, un beau jour, tout à coup, perdait son ironie.
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.