un rien
\œ̃ ʁjɛ̃\
The verdict
“un rien” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Un brin, très peu, à peine.
Corpus desk
Index FR-un-rien · un rien · French
un rien · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "U" 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 | un rien |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \œ̃ ʁjɛ̃\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « un rien » en français
Rare enough to double-check
un rien is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \œ̃ ʁjɛ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Un brin, très peu, à peine.".
Zero misspellings are on record for un rien in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is un rien, spelled U-N- -R-I-E-N.
Definition
- 1Un brin, très peu, à peine.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how un rien appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Agrégé d'histoire du droit et de droit romain, autoritaire et un rien coléreux, il est fasciné par les méthodes policières.
Cette pompeuse demeure, un rien délabrée, Michel l’a choisie de préférence à de plus riants logis offerts au Cap-Ferrat ou au Cap-d’Ail ; […]
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.