vouloir dire
\vu.lwaʁ diʁ\
The verdict
“vouloir dire” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Signifier.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | vouloir dire |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \vu.lwaʁ diʁ\ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “vouloir dire” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for vouloir dire is 12 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \vu.lwaʁ diʁ\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
vouloir dire has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is vouloir dire, spelled V-O-U-L-O-I-R- -D-I-R-E.
Definition
- 1Signifier.
- 2Donner une information, un ordre ou un avertissement de façon détournée. Faire entendre, faire comprendre quelque chose à quelqu’un.
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
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Using “vouloir dire”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is V-O-U-L-O-I-R- -D-I-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \vu.lwaʁ diʁ\ (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.