whiplash

\ˈwɪplæʃ\

/\ˈwɪplæʃ\/ noun

The verdict

“whiplash” is uncommon French (frequency #66,426 among 549 “W” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,426
frequency rank, French
549
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Coup de fouet.

Corpus desk

Index FR-whiplash · whiplash · French

whiplash · rank #66,426 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #66,426
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 549
  • PHOTO-FINISH webcams

Nearest frequency peer: webcams (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « whiplash »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « whiplash » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for whiplash
PropertyValue
Headwordwhiplash
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈwɪplæʃ\
Letters8
Frequency rank#66,426
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « whiplash » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).whiplashtombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « webcams » (#66,425), « wight » (#66,427), « Wirth » (#66,428). Parmi 549 lemmes en « W », « whiplash » est au #66,426. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

whiplash is uncommon French at frequency #66,426 among 549 “W” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈwɪplæʃ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for whiplash in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is whiplash, spelled W-H-I-P-L-A-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Coup de fouet.
  2. 2
    Coup du lapin, traumatisme cervical.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. He didn’t want the American prisoners to die. That plus the stress of capture, plus the whiplash surprise of the cordial treatment, plus a lot of good brandy, all conspired to loosen his tongue.

Synonyms

lashstripewhippingwhiplash injury

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "whiplash"?
"whiplash" is spelled W-H-I-P-L-A-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈwɪplæʃ\.
What does "whiplash" mean?
As a noun, "whiplash" means: Coup de fouet.
How do you pronounce "whiplash"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "whiplash" is \ˈwɪplæʃ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "whiplash" come from?
"whiplash" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "whiplash", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list