zu wünschen übrig lassen

\t͡suː ˈvʏnʃn̩ ˈyːbʁɪç ˈlasn̩\

/\t͡suː ˈvʏnʃn̩ ˈyːbʁɪç ˈlasn̩\/ verb

The verdict

“zu wünschen übrig lassen” 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
24
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Laisser à désirer : être insuffisant, mauvais, médiocre.

Key facts for zu wünschen übrig lassen
PropertyValue
Headwordzu wünschen übrig lassen
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\t͡suː ˈvʏnʃn̩ ˈyːbʁɪç ˈlasn̩\
Letters24
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “zu wünschen übrig lassen” sits in French frequency

zu wünschen übrig lassen 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 zu wünschen übrig lassen is 24 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \t͡suː ˈvʏnʃn̩ ˈyːbʁɪç ˈlasn̩\. 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: "Laisser à désirer : être insuffisant, mauvais, médiocre.".

No misspelling variants are generated for zu wünschen übrig lassen 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 zu wünschen übrig lassen, spelled Z-U- -W-Ü-N-S-C-H-E-N- -Ü-B-R-I-G- -L-A-S-S-E-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Laisser à désirer : être insuffisant, mauvais, médiocre.

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, “zu wünschen übrig lassen, 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/zu-wunschen-ubrig-lassen

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "zu wünschen übrig lassen"?
"zu wünschen übrig lassen" is spelled Z-U- -W-Ü-N-S-C-H-E-N- -Ü-B-R-I-G- -L-A-S-S-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is \t͡suː ˈvʏnʃn̩ ˈyːbʁɪç ˈlasn̩\.
What does "zu wünschen übrig lassen" mean?
As a verb, "zu wünschen übrig lassen" means: Laisser à désirer : être insuffisant, mauvais, médiocre.
How do you pronounce "zu wünschen übrig lassen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zu wünschen übrig lassen" is \t͡suː ˈvʏnʃn̩ ˈyːbʁɪç ˈlasn̩\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zu wünschen übrig lassen" come from?
"zu wünschen übrig lassen" 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 “zu wünschen übrig lassen”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is Z-U- -W-Ü-N-S-C-H-E-N- -Ü-B-R-I-G- -L-A-S-S-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \t͡suː ˈvʏnʃn̩ ˈyːbʁɪç ˈlasn̩\ (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 Z 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