un clou chasse l’autre

\œ̃ klu ʃas l‿otʁ\

/\œ̃ klu ʃas l‿otʁ\/ phrase

The verdict

“un clou chasse l’autre” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a phrase - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
22
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Se dit d’une chose qui en remplace une autre.

Key facts for un clou chasse l’autre
PropertyValue
Headwordun clou chasse l’autre
LanguageFrench
Part of speechPhrase
IPA\œ̃ klu ʃas l‿otʁ\
Letters22
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “un clou chasse l’autre” sits in French frequency

un clou chasse l’autre 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.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for un clou chasse l’autre is 22 letters long, classified as a phrase, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \œ̃ klu ʃas l‿otʁ\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Se dit d’une chose qui en remplace une autre.".

No misspelling variants are generated for un clou chasse l’autre in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is un clou chasse l’autre, spelled U-N- -C-L-O-U- -C-H-A-S-S-E- -L-’-A-U-T-R-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Se dit d’une chose qui en remplace une autre.

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.

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:

PlainSpell, “un clou chasse l’autre, French word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/fr/mot/un-clou-chasse-l-autre

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "un clou chasse l’autre"?
"un clou chasse l’autre" is spelled U-N- -C-L-O-U- -C-H-A-S-S-E- -L-’-A-U-T-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \œ̃ klu ʃas l‿otʁ\.
What does "un clou chasse l’autre" mean?
As a phrase, "un clou chasse l’autre" means: Se dit d’une chose qui en remplace une autre.
How do you pronounce "un clou chasse l’autre"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "un clou chasse l’autre" is \œ̃ klu ʃas l‿otʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "un clou chasse l’autre" come from?
"un clou chasse l’autre" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “un clou chasse l’autre”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is U-N- -C-L-O-U- -C-H-A-S-S-E- -L-’-A-U-T-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \œ̃ klu ʃas l‿otʁ\ (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

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter U in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list