French phrases used by English speakers

Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern English. English words of French origin, such as ''art'', ''competition'', ''force'', ''machine'', and ''table'' are pronounced according to English rules of phonology, rather than French, and are commonly used by English speakers without any consciousness of their French origin.

This article, on the other hand, covers French words and phrases that have entered the English lexicon without ever losing their character as Gallicisms: they remain unmistakably "French" to an English speaker. They are most common in written English, where they retain French diacritics and are usually printed in italics. In spoken English, at least some attempt is generally made to pronounce them as they would sound in French; an entirely English pronunciation is regarded as a solecism.

Some of them were never "good French", in the sense of being grammatical, idiomatic French usage. Some others were once normal French but have become very old-fashioned, or have acquired different meanings and connotations in the original language, to the extent that they would not be understood (either at all, or in the intended sense) by a native French speaker.

Used in English and French

A

; à la: short for (ellipsis of) ''à la manière de''; in the manner of/in the style of
; à la carte: lit. "on the card, i.e. menu"; In restaurants it refers to ordering individual dishes "à la carte" rather than a fixed-price meal "menu". In America "à la Carte Menu" can be found, an oxymoron and a pleonasm.
; à propos: regarding/concerning (the correct French syntax is ''à propos de'')
; aide-de-camp: lit. "camp helper"; A military officer who serves as an adjutant to a higher-ranking officer, prince or other high political dignitary.
; aide-mémoire: lit. "memory aid"; an object or memorandum to assist in remembrance, or a diplomatic paper proposing the major points of discussion
; amour propre: "Self-love", Self-respect.
; amuse-bouche or amuse-gueule: lit. "mouth-amuser"; a single, bite-sized hors d'œuvre. In France, the exact expression used is ''amuse-gueule'', ''gueule'' being slang for mouth (''gueule'' is the mouth of a carnivorous animal; when used to describe the mouth of a human, it is vulgarakin to "gob" although the expression in itself is not vulgar). The expression refers to a small mouthful of food, served at the discretion of the chef before a meal as an hors d'oeuvre or between main courses.
; ancien régime: a sociopolitical or other system that no longer exists, an allusion to pre-revolutionary France (used with capital letters in French with this meaning: Ancien Régime)
; aperçu: preview; a first impression; initial insight.
; apéritif or aperitif: lit. "rinkopening the appetite", a before-meal drink. In colloquial French, ''un apéritif'' is usually shortened to ''un apéro''.
; appellation contrôlée: supervised use of a name. For the conventional use of the term, see Appellation d'origine contrôlée
; appetence: 1. A natural craving or desire 2. An attraction or affinity; From French word "Appétence", derived from "Appétit" (Appetite). In French, belongs to high-level language.
; après moi, le déluge: lit. "After me, the deluge", a remark attributed to Louis XV of France in reference to the impending end of a functioning French monarchy and predicting the French Revolution. It is derived from Madame de Pompadour's '' après nous, le déluge'', "after us, the deluge". The Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, famously known as the "Dambusters", uses this as its motto.
; arête: a narrow ridge. In French, also fishbone; edge of a polyhedron or graph; bridge of the nose.
; armoire: a type of cabinet; wardrobe.
; arrière-pensée: ulterior motive; concealed thought, plan, or motive.
; art nouveau: a style of decoration and architecture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It takes a capital in French (''Art nouveau'').
; attaché: a person attached to an embassy; in French it is also the past participle of the verb ''attacher'' (= to fasten, to tighten, to be linked)
; attaque au fer: an attack on the opponent's blade in fencing, e.g. beat, expulsion, pressure.
; au contraire: on the contrary.
; au courant: up-to-date; abreast of current affairs.
; au fait: being conversant in or with, or instructed in or with.
; au gratin: "with gratings", anything that is grated onto a food dish. In English, specifically 'with cheese'.
; au jus: lit. "with juice", referring to a food course served with sauce. Often redundantly formulated, as in 'Open-faced steak sandwich, served with au jus.' No longer used in French, except for the colloquial, ''être au jus'' (to be informed).
; au naturel: 1. a. Nude. b. In a natural state: an ''au naturel'' hairstyle. 2. Cooked simply. Also used in French heraldry to mean "proper" i.e. in natural colours.
; au pair: a young foreigner who does domestic chores in exchange for room and board. In France, those chores are mainly child care/education.
; au revoir !: "See you later!" In French, a contraction of ''Au plaisir de vous revoir'' ('to the pleasure of seeing you again').
au sec
:lit. "almost dry", reducing liquid to the point of almost dry but food is still moist.
; avant-garde (pl. ''avant-gardes''): applied to cutting-edge or radically innovative movements in art, music and literature; figuratively 'on the edge', literally, a military term, meaning 'vanguard' (which is a corruption of ''avant-garde'') or "advance guard", in other words, "first to attack" (antonym of ''arrière-garde'').
; avant la lettre: used to describe something or someone seen as a forerunner of something (such as an artistic or political movement) before that something was recognized and named, e.g., "a post-modernist avant la lettre", "a feminist avant la lettre". The expression literally means "before the letter", i.e., "before it had a name". A French modern alternative form of this expression is ''avant l'heure''.
; avoirdupois: used in Middle English, ''avoir de pois'' = commodities sold by weight, alteration of Old French ''aveir de peis'' = "goods of weight". In Modern French, only used to refer to English weight measures, as in ''une livre avoirdupois'' (1 lb. avdp) as opposed to ''une livre troy'' (1 lb. troy).

B

; baguette: a long, narrow loaf of bread with a crisp crust, often called "French bread" or "French stick" in the United Kingdom. In French, a ''baguette'' is any long and narrow stick-like object, for example a "chopstick". Also, a rectangular diamond, cut to twenty-five facets.
; banquette: a long upholstered bench or a sofa.
; beaucoup de: Used interchangeably with the English equivalent of "lots of/many/a great number of". Appropriate when the speaker wants to convey a greater positive connotation and/or greater emphasis. Often used as an informal expression, mostly in small regional dialect-pockets in the Canadian Prairies and the American South, especially in Alberta and Louisiana respectively.::
; Beau idéal: lit. "beautiful ideal," used to suggest the perfect or most supreme version of something to exist. The expression was coined during the late 18th century during the aesthetic period known as classicism. Invoking the balance and refinement of Greek and Roman art and architecture, the term was used for art and architecture that conformed to purity, wholesomeness, equilibrium, and simple elegance.
; Beau geste: lit. "beautiful gesture", a gracious gesture, noble in form but often futile or meaningless in substance. This French expression has been pressing at the door of standard English with only partial success, since the appearance of P. C. Wren's ''Beau Geste'' (1924), the first of his Foreign Legion novels.
; Beaux-Arts: monumental architectural style of the early 20th century made famous by the Académie des Beaux-Arts.
; bel esprit (pl. beaux esprits): lit. "fine mind"; a cultivated, highly intelligent person.
; Belle Époque: a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I.
; belles-lettres: lit. "fine letters"; literature regarded for its aesthetic value rather than its didactic or informative content; also, light, stylish writings, usually on literary or intellectual subjects
; bien entendu: well understood, well known, obvious – "of course"
; bien pensant: lit. "well thinking"; right thinking, orthodox. Formerly implied willful blindness to dangers or suffering faced by others but, nowadays corresponds to "politically correct". The noun form ''bien-pensance'' is rarely seen in English.
; billet-doux: lit. "sweet note", love letter
; blasé: unimpressed with something because of overfamiliarity, jaded.
; bon appétit: lit. "good appetite"; "enjoy your meal".
; bon mot (pl. ''bons mots'') : well-chosen word(s), particularly a witty remark ("each bon mot which falls from his lips is analysed and filed away for posterity", ''The European Magazine'', August 29 – September 4, 1996)
; bon vivant: one who enjoys the good life, an epicurean.
; bon voyage: lit. "good journey"; have a good trip!
; bourgeois: member of the bourgeoisie, originally councilmen, burghers or even aristocrats living in towns in the Middle Ages. Now the term is derogatory, and it applies to a person whose beliefs, attitudes, and practices are conventionally middle-class.
; bric-à-brac: small ornamental objects, less valuable than antiques; a collection of old furniture, china, plates and curiosities. Cf. ''de bric et de broc'', corresponding to English "by hook or by crook", and ''brack'', refuse.
; bricolage: to improvise or assemble something useful from what happens to be at hand; to expedite or economize a project with readily available components, versus a kit or outside sources; to reuse spare parts for other than their original purpose; to create something new by arranging old material; to create a new, valuable purpose for an object that has completed its original purpose and would otherwise be discarded. Connotes an intrepid do-it-yourself spirit or clever repurposing. Differs from tinkering which merely modifies an existing arrangement. The term is used metaphorically to describe inventive philosophy, theories, and practices in business and academic fields, where new concepts are found in interactions of old ideas.
; brioche: a sweet yeast bun, kind of a crossover between a popover and a light muffin; French also use the term as slang for 'potbelly', because of the overhang effect.
; bureau (pl. ''bureaux''): government office; an agency for information exchange. Also means "desk" in French, and in the U.K.

C

; ça ne fait rien: "that doesn't matter"; rendered as ''san fairy Ann'' in British World War I slang.
; cache: a collection of items of the same type stored in a hidden or inaccessible place (such as in an oubliette). Often used for weapons.
; cachet: lit. "stamp"; a distinctive quality; quality, prestige.
; café: a coffee shop (also used in French for "coffee").
; café au lait: coffee with milk; or a light-brown color. In medicine, it is also used to describe a birthmark that is of a light-brown color (café au lait spot).
; calque: a copied term/thing.
; canard: ( means "duck" in French)
# an unfounded rumor or anecdote.
# a leading airfoil attached to an aircraft forward of the main wing.
# a slang word for "newspaper".
# a piece of sugar slightly soused with coffee or cognac (or another strong alcohol).

; canapé: A small, prepared and usually decorative food, held in the fingers and often eaten in one bite. In French, it can also refer to a "sofa".
; carte blanche: lit. "white card" (i.e. blank check); unlimited authority.
; carte de visite: lit. "visiting card"; a calling card.
; cause célèbre: controversial celebrity issue.

c'est la guerre: "That's war!", or...

c'est la vie: "That's life!" or "Such is life!"

: Though either foreign expression can be used to say that life is harsh but that one must accept it, the former may imply a more deliberate cause thereof, while the latter, more accidental.
; chaise longue: a long chair for reclining; sometimes misstated as "chaise lounge"
; Champs-Élysées: lit. " Elysian Fields"; ''Avenue des Champs-Élysées'', one of the broadest boulevards in Paris. Often referred to as simply ''les Champs''.
; chanteuse: '(female) singer', a female singer, especially at a nightclub, bar, cabaret, or diner.
; chargé d'affaires: a diplomat left in charge of day-to-day business at a diplomatic mission. Within the United States Department of State, a "chargé" is any officer left in charge of the mission in the absence of the titular chief of mission.
; charrette: a collaborative session in which a group of designers draft a solution to a design problem.
; chauffeur: driver.
; chef d'œuvre: a masterpiece.
; cherchez la femme: "look for / seek the woman", in the sense that, when a man behaves out of character or in an otherwise apparently inexplicable manner, the reason may be found in his trying to cover up an illicit affair with a woman, or to impress or gain favour with a woman. This expression was first used in a novel by Alexandre Dumas (père), in the third chapter of ''Les Mohicans de Paris'' (1854), in the form of ''cherchons la femme'' ("let's look for the woman"). The expression is found in John Latey's 1878 English translation: "Ah! Monsieur Jackal, you were right when you said, 'Seek the woman.'" The phrase was adopted into everyday English use and crossed the Atlantic by 1909.
; chez: at the house of: often used in the names of restaurants and the like; ''Chez Marie'' = "Marie's".
; chic: stylish.
; chignon: a hairstyle worn in a roll at the nape of the neck.
; cinéma pur: an avant-garde film movement which was born in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s.
; cinéma vérité: realism in documentary filmmaking. "Vérité" means "truth".
; cliché: originally referred to a printer's block used to reproduce type, compare the original meaning of stereotype. A phrase that has become trite through overuse; a stereotype.
; clique:a small exclusive group of friends; always used in a pejorative way in French and, usually, in English. Often pronounced the same as "click" in British English.
; cloisonné: an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects.
; commandant: commanding officer of a base, depot or training area. In France, used for an airline pilot ''(le commandant de bord)'', in the Army as appellative for a ''chef de bataillon'' or a ''chef d'escadron'' (roughly equivalent to a major) or in the Navy for any officer from ''capitaine de corvette'' to ''capitaine de vaisseau'' (equivalent to the Army's majors, lieutenant-colonels and colonels) or for any officer heading a ship.
; comme ci, comme ça: lit. "like this, like that"; neither good nor bad, so-so.
; communiqué: lit. "communicated"; an official communication.
; concierge: a receptionist at a hotel or residence.
; concordat: an agreement; a treaty; when used with a capital C in French, it refers to the treaty between the French State and Judaeo-Christian religions during the French Empire (Napoleon): priests, ministers and rabbis became civil servants. This treaty was abolished in 1905 (law Church-State separation) but is still in use in Alsace-Lorraine (those territories were under German administration during 1871–1918).
; confrère (also confrere): a colleague, an associate
; contre-coup: against the blow. This word describes the repercussion of a physical or mental shock, or an indirect consequence of an event.
; contre-jour: against daylight. This word (mostly used in art namely photography, cinema or painting) describes the light that illumines an object from the other side of your own point of view.
; contretemps: an awkward clash; a delay.
; coquette: a flirtatious girl; a tease.
; cordon bleu: (lit. "blue ribbon"). A "cordon bleu" may refer to several things, both in French and in English :
# A person who excels in cooking.
# An award given to such a person.
# An international group of hospitality management and cooking schools teaching French cuisine, founded in France.
# An escalope of veal, chicken or pork stuffed with ham and cheese, then breaded and fried.

; cordon sanitaire: a policy of containment directed against a hostile entity or ideology; a chain of buffer states; lit. "quarantine line".
; corniche: a road that clings like a ledge to the side of a cliff or mountain.
; cortège: a funeral procession; in French has a broader meaning and refers to all kinds of processions.
; coup de foudre: lit. "thunderbolt" ("strike of thunder"); a sudden unforeseen event, usually used to describe love at first sight.
; coup d'état: political coup, government overthrow
; coup de grâce: the final blow that results in victory (lit. "blow of mercy"), historically used in the context of the battlefield to refer to the killing of badly wounded enemy soldiers, now more often used in a figurative context (e.g., business).
; coup de main: (lit. "a blow with the hand"), means "help from someone". Example: "Besoin d'un coup de main?" means "Need help?"

; coup de maître: stroke of the master, master stroke. This word describes a planned action skilfully done. See also tour de force below
; coup de théâtre: a dramatic turn of events.
; coup d'œil: lit. "a blow (or touch) of the eye"; a glance.
; couture: litt. sewing. Fashion (usually refers to high fashion). ''haute couture'' in French.
; couturier: a fashion designer (usually refers to high fashion, rather than everyday clothes design. In French, it means 'tailor'; a ''couturière'' is a seamstress.
; crèche: a nativity display; more commonly (in the United Kingdom), a place where children are left by their parents for short periods in the supervision of childminders; both meanings still exist in French.
; crème brûlée: lit. "burnt cream"; a dessert consisting primarily of custard and toasted sugar, that is, caramel.
; crème de la crème: best of the best, "cream of the cream", used to describe highly skilled people or objects. A synonymous expression in French is ''fin du fin''.
; crème fraîche: lit. "fresh cream", a heavy cream slightly soured with bacterial culture, but not as sour or as thick as sour cream and does not curdle.
; crêpe: a thin sweet or savoury pancake eaten as a light meal or dessert.

; crêperie: a takeaway restaurant or stall, serving crêpes as a form of fast food or street food, or may be a more formal sit-down restaurant or café.
; critique: a critical analysis or evaluation of a work, or the art of criticizing. From Latin ''criticus'', from Ancient Greek κριτικός (''kritikos'').
; croissant: a crescent-shaped bread made of flaky pastry; in French also the word for crescent.
; cul-de-sac: originally "bottom of sack" and used in English in anatomy since 1738. Used for dead end (street) since 1800 in English, since 14th century in French. The often heard erroneous folk etymology "arse uttocksof the sack" is based on the current meaning of ''cul'' in French, but ''cul-de-sac'' is used to refer to dead ends in modern French and is not vulgar, though the terms ''impasse'' and ''voie sans issue'' are more common in modern French.

D

; de rigueur: required or expected, especially in fashion or etiquette.
; de trop: unnecessary, unwanted, or more than is suitable.
; déclassé: inferior.
; décolleté: a woman's garment with a low-cut neckline that exposes cleavage, or a situation in which a woman's chest or cleavage is exposed; décolletage is dealt with below.
; décor: the layout and furnishing of a room.
; découpage: decoration with cut paper.
; demi-glace: a reduced wine-based sauce for meats and poultry.
; demi-sec: semi-dry, usually said of wine.
; déjà vu: lit. "already seen": an impression or illusion of having seen or experienced something before.
; dénouement: lit. "untying": the resolution of a narrative.
; dépanneur: (Quebec English) a convenience store.
; dérailleur: a bicycle gear-shift mechanism.
; dernier cri: lit. "latest scream": the latest fashion.
; derrière: lit. "behind": rear, buttocks.
; déshabillé: partially clad or scantily dressed; also a special type of garment.
; détente: easing of diplomatic tension.
; digestif: a digestive aid, esp., an after-dinner drink, as brandy.
; directeur sportif: lit. "sports director". A person responsible for the operation of a cycling team during a road bicycle race. In French, it means any kind of sports director.
; divertissement: an amusing diversion; entertainment.
; dossier: a file containing detailed information about a person. In modern French it can be any type of file, including a computer directory. In slang, ''J'ai des dossiers sur toi'' ("I have files about you") means having materials for blackmail.
; doyen: the senior member of a group; the feminine is doyenne. Also dean (of faculty, or medicine).
; dressage: a form of competitive horse training, in French has the broader meaning of taming any kind of animal.
; droit du seigneur: lit. "right of the lord": the purported right of a lord in feudal times to take the virginity of one of his vassals' brides on her wedding night (in precedence to her new husband). The French term for this hypothetical custom is ''droit de cuissage'' (from ''cuisse'': thigh).
; du jour: lit. "of the day": said of something fashionable or hip for a day and quickly forgotten; today's choice on the menu, as soup ''du jour''.

E

; eau de Cologne: a type of perfume, originating in Cologne. Its Italian creator used a French name to commercialize it, Cologne at that time being under the control of France.
; eau de toilette: lit. "grooming water". It usually refers to an aromatic product that is less expensive than a perfume because it has less of the aromatic compounds and is more for an everyday use. Cannot be shortened to ''eau'', which means something else altogether in French (water).
; eau de vie: lit. "water of life" (cf. Aquavit and whisky), a type of fruit brandy.
; écarté: a card game; also a ballet position.
; échappé: dance movement foot position.
; éclair: a cream and chocolate icing pastry.
; éclat: great brilliance, as of performance or achievement. Conspicuous success. Great acclamation or applause.
; écorché: flayed; biological graphic or model with skin removed.
; élan: a distinctive flair or style.
; élan vital: lit. "vital ardor"; the vital force hypothesized by Henri Bergson as a source of efficient causation and evolution in nature; also called "life-force"
; éminence grise: lit. "grey eminence": a publicity-shy person with little formal power but great influence over those in authority.
; en banc: court hearing of the entire group of judges instead of a subset panel.
; en bloc: as a group.
; en garde: " eon ourguard". "On guard" is of course perfectly good English: the French spelling is used for the fencing term.
; en passant: in passing; term used in chess and in neurobiology ("synapse en passant.")
; en plein air: lit. "in the open air"; particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.
; en pointe: (in ballet) on tiptoe. Though used in French in this same context, it is not an expression as such. A ''pointe'' is the ballet figure where one stands on tiptoes. The expression "en pointe", though, means "in an acute angle", and, figuratively, it qualifies the most progressive or modern things (ideas, industry).
; en route:on the way. Often written and pronounced "On route" in British English.
; enfant terrible: lit. "terrible child"; a disruptively unconventional person.
; ennui: A gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom; depression
; entente: diplomatic agreement or cooperation. L'Entente cordiale (the Cordial Entente) refers to the good diplomatic relationship between France and United Kingdom before the first World War.
; entre nous: lit. "between us"; confidentially.
; entrée: lit. "entrance"; the first course of a meal (UK English); used to denote the main dish or course of a meal (US English).
; entremets: desserts/sweet dishes. More literally, a side dish that can be served between the courses of a meal.
; entrepreneur: a person who undertakes and operates a new enterprise or venture and assumes some accountability for the inherent risks.
; embonpoint: a plump, hourglass figure.
; épater la bourgeoisie or épater le bourgeois: lit. "to shock the middle classes", a rallying cry for the French Decadent poets of the late 19th century including Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud.
; escargot: snail; in English, used only as a culinary term.
; esprit de corps: lit. "spirit of the body roup: a feeling of solidarity among members of a group; morale. Often used in connection with a military force.
; esprit de l'escalier: lit. "wit of the stairs"; a concise, clever statement you think of too late, that is, on the stairs leaving the scene. The expression was created by French philosopher Denis Diderot.
; l'État, c'est moi!: lit. "I am the state!" — attributed to the archetypal absolute monarch, Louis XIV of France.
; étude: a musical composition designed to provide practice in a particular technical skill in the performance of an instrument. French for "study."
; étui: small ornamental case for needles or cosmetics.
; excusez-moi: "Excuse me".
; extraordinaire: extraordinary, usually as a following adjective, as "musician extraordinaire."

F

; façade: the front of an edifice (from the Italian ''facciata'', or face); a fake persona, as in "putting on a façade" (the ''ç'' is pronounced like an ''s'')
; fait accompli: lit. "accomplished fact"; something that has already happened and is thus unlikely to be reversed; a done deal. In French, the term is primarily used in the expression ''placer/mettre quelqu'un devant le fait accompli'', meaning to present somebody with a fait accompli. Also see point of no return.
; faute de mieux: for want of better.
; faites comme chez vous
:Make yourself at home.
;faux
:false, ersatz, fake.
; faux pas:lit. "false step": violation of accepted, although unwritten, social rules.
;femme fatale:lit. "deadly woman": an attractive woman who seduces and takes advantage of men for her personal goals, after which she discards or abandons them. It extends to describe an attractive woman with whom a relationship is likely to result, or has already resulted, in pain and sorrow.
;feuilleton:lit. "little leaf of paper": a periodical, or part of a periodical, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criticism, a chronicle of the latest fashions, and epigrams, charades and other literary trifles.
; fiancé(e):betrothed; lit. a man/woman engaged to be married.
;film noir:Lit. "black film": a stylized genre of movies from the 1940s and 1950s with a focus on crime and amorality.
; fils:lit. "son": used after a man's surname to distinguish a son from a father, as Alexandre Dumas, fils.
; fin de siècle:The end of the century, a term which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom turn of the century and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another.
;flambé:a cooking procedure in which alcohol (ethanol) is added to a hot pan to create a burst of flames, meaning "flamed" in French. Also used colloquially in reference to something on fire or burned.
; flambeau:a lit torch.
;flâneur:a gentleman stroller of city streets; an aimless idler.

; fleur-de-lis: a stylized-flower heraldic device; the golden ''fleur-de-lis'' on an azure background were the arms of the French Kingdom (often spelled with the old French style as "fleur-de-lys").

; fleur de sel: lit. "flower of salt", hand-harvested sea salt collected by workers who scrape only the top layer of salt before it sinks to the bottom of large salt pans. Is one of the more expensive salts; traditional French fleur de sel is collected off the coast of Brittany most notably in the town of Guérande (''Fleur de Sel de Guérande'' being the most revered), but also in Noirmoutier, Île de Ré and Camargue.

; foie gras: fatty liver; usually the liver of overfed goose, hence: ''pâté de foie gras'', pâté made from goose liver.
; folie à deux: a simultaneous occurrence of delusions in two closely related people, often said of an unsuitable romance. In clinical psychology, the term is used to describe people who share schizophrenic delusions. The derived forms ''folie à trois'', ''folie à quatre'', ''folie en famille'' or even ''folie à plusieurs'' do not exist in French where "collective hysterics" is used.
; force majeure: an overpowering and unforeseeable event, especially when talking about weather (often appears in insurance contracts).
; forte: Lit. "strong point" (of a sword). Strength, expertise, one's strong point.
; froideur: coldness (for behavior and manners only).

G

; gaffe: blunder
; garage: covered parking
; garçon: lit. "boy" or "male servant"; sometimes used by English speakers to summon the attention of a male waiter (has a playful connotation in English but is condescending and possibly offensive in French).
; gauche: lit. "left". Clumsy, tactless.
; gaucherie: boorishness, clumsiness.
; gendarme: a member of the gendarmerie; colloquially, a policeman
; gendarmerie: a military body charged with police duties
; genre: a type or class, such as "the thriller genre".
; gîte : furnished vacation cottage typically in rural France.
; glissade: slide down a slope.
; Grand Prix:lit. "Great Prize"; a type of motor racing. English plural is ''Grands Prix.''
; Grand Guignol: a horror show, named after a French theater famous for its frightening plays and bloody special effects. (''Guignol'' can be used in French to describe a ridiculous person, in the same way that ''clown'' might be used in English.)
; grenadier: a specialized soldier, first established for the throwing of grenades and later as elite troops.

H

; habitué: one who regularly frequents a place.
; haute couture: lit. "high sewing": Paris-based custom-fitted clothing; trend-setting fashion
; haute école: lit. "high school": advanced components of Classical dressage (horseback riding); when capitalized (Haute Ecole), refers to France's most prestigious higher education institutions (e.g., Polytechnique, ENA, Les Mines)
; hauteur: lit. "height": arrogance.
; haut monde: lit. the "high world": fashionable society.
; Honi soit qui mal y pense: "Shamed be he who thinks ill of it"; or sometimes translated as "Evil be to him who evil thinks"; the motto of the English Order of the Garter (modern French writes ''honni'' instead of Old French ''honi'' and would phrase "qui en pense du mal" instead of "qui mal y pense"). The sentence ''Honni soit qui mal y pense'' (often with double n) can still be used in French as a frozen expression to mean "Let nobody think ill of this" by allusion to the Garter's motto. A more colloquial quasi-synonymous expression in French would be ''en tout bien tout honneur''.
; hors de combat: lit. "out of the fight": prevented from fighting or participating in some event, usually by injury.
; hors concours: lit. "out of competition": not to be judged with others because of the superiority of the work to the others.
; hors d'œuvre: lit. "outside the ainwork": appetizer.

I

; idée fixe: lit. "fixed idea": obsession; in music, a leitmotiv.
; impasse: a situation offering no escape, as a difficulty without solution, an argument where no agreement is possible, etc.; a deadlock.
; ingénu(e): an innocent young man/woman, used particularly in reference to a theatrical stock character who is entirely virginal and wholesome. ''L'Ingénu'' is a famous novella written by Voltaire.

J

; j'accuse: "I accuse"; used generally in reference to a political or social indictment (alluding to J'Accuse…!, Émile Zola's exposé of the Dreyfus affair, a political scandal that divided France from the 1890s to the early 1900s (decade) and involved the false conviction for treason in 1894 of Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Jewish background).
; j'adoube: In chess, an expression, said discreetly, that signals the intention to straighten the pieces without committing to move or capturing the first one touched as per the game's rules; lit. "I adjust", from ''adouber'', to dub (the action of knighting someone).
; je ne regrette rien: "I regret nothing" (from the title of a popular song sung by Édith Piaf: ''Non, je ne regrette rien''). Also the phrase the UK's then Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont chose to use to describe his feelings over the events of September 16, 1992 ('Black Wednesday').
; je ne sais quoi: lit. "I-don't-know-what": an indescribable or indefinable 'something' that distinguishes the object in question from others that are superficially similar.
; jeu d'esprit: lit. "play of spirit": a witty, often light-hearted, comment or composition
; jeunesse dorée: lit. "gilded youth"; name given to a body of young dandies, also called the Muscadins, who, after the fall of Robespierre, fought against the Jacobins. Today used for youthful offspring, particularly if bullying and vandalistic, of the affluent.
; joie de vivre: "joy of life/living".

L

; l'appel du vide: lit. "call of the void"; used to refer to intellectual suicidal thoughts, or the urge to engage in self-destructive (suicidal) behaviors during everyday life. Examples include thinking about swerving in to the opposite lane while driving, or feeling the urge to jump off a cliff edge while standing on it. These thoughts are not accompanied by emotional distress.
; laissez-faire:lit. "let do"; often used within the context of economic policy or political philosophy, meaning leaving alone, or non-interference. The phrase is the shortcut of '' Laissez faire, laissez passer'', a doctrine first supported by the Physiocrats in the 18th century. The motto was invented by Vincent de Gournay, and it became popular among supporters of free-trade and economic liberalism. It is also used to describe a parental style in developmental psychology, where the parent(s) does not apply rules or guiding. As per the parental style, it is now one of the major management styles. Used more generally in modern English to describe a particularly casual or "hands-off" attitude or approach to something,
; laissez-passer: a travel document, a passport
; laissez les bons temps rouler: Cajun expression for "let the good times roll": not used in proper French, and not generally understood by Francophones outside Louisiana, who would say ''profitez des bons moments'' (enjoy the good moments).
; lamé: a type of fabric woven or knit with metallic yarns.
; lanterne rouge: the last-place finisher in a cycling stage race; most commonly used in connection with the Tour de France.
; lèse majesté: an offense against a sovereign power; or, an attack against someone's dignity or against a custom or institution held sacred (from the Latin ''crimen laesae maiestatis'': the crime of injured majesty).
; liaison: a close relationship or connection; an affair. The French meaning is broader; ''liaison'' also means "bond"' such as in ''une liaison chimique'' (a chemical bond)
; lingerie: a type of female underwear.
; littérateur: an intellectual (can be pejorative in French, meaning someone who writes a lot but does not have a particular skill).
; louche: of questionable taste, but also someone or something that arouses somebody's suspicions.
; Louis Quatorze: "Louis XIV" (of France), the Sun King, usually a reference to décor or furniture design.
; Louis Quinze: "Louis XV" (of France), associated with the rococo style of furniture, architecture and interior decoration.

M

; macramé: coarse lace work made with knotted cords.
; madame : a woman brothel-keeper (Fowler's Modern English Usage, 3rd edition, p. 475). In French, a title of respect for an older or married woman (literally "my lady"); sometimes spelled "madam" in English (but never in French).
; mademoiselle: lit. "my noble young lady": young unmarried lady, miss.
; malaise:a general sense of depression or unease. Can also be used to denote complacency, or lethargy towards something.
; mange tout: a phrase describing snow peas and snap peas (lit. "eat-all", because these peas can be cooked and eaten with their pod).
; manqué: unfulfilled; failed.
; Mardi gras: Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday, the last day of eating meat before Lent.
; marque: a model or brand.
; matériel: supplies and equipment, particularly in a military context (French meaning is broader and corresponds more to "hardware")
; mauvais quart d'heure: lit. "bad quarter hour": a short unpleasant or uncomfortable moment.
; mdr: Alt., MDR. Abbreviation in SMS, akin to LOL; for ''mort de rire'' (''mort'', adj. or verb, past tense), or ''mourir de rire'' (''mourir'', verb, infinitive). Lit., as adjective or past tense, dead or died of laughing, so "died laughing" or "dying of laughter"; compare ''mort de faim'' for starve.
; mélange: a mixture.
; mêlée: a confused fight; a struggling crowd. In French also: a rugby scrum.
; ménage à trois: lit. "household for three": a sexual arrangement between three people.
; métier: a field of work or other activity; usually one in which one has special ability or training.
; milieu: social environment; setting (has also the meaning of "middle", and organized crime community in French).
; milieu intérieur: the extra-cellular fluid environment, and its physiological capacity to ensure protective stability for the tissues and organs of multicellular living organisms.
; mirepoix: a cooking mixture of two parts onions and one part each of celery and carrots.
; mise en place: an assembly of ingredients, usually set up in small bowls, used to facilitate cooking. This means all the raw ingredients are prepared and ready to go before cooking. Translated, "put in place."
; mise en scène: the process of setting a stage with regard to placement of actors, scenery, properties, etc.; the stage setting or scenery of a play; surroundings, environment.
; mise en table: table setting.
; montage: editing.
; le mot juste: lit. "the just word"; the right word at the right time. French uses it often in the expression ''chercher le mot juste'' (to search for the right word).
; motif: a recurrent thematic element.
; moue: a type of facial expression; pursing together of the lips to indicate dissatisfaction, a pout. See snout reflex.
; mousse: a whipped dessert or a hairstyling foam; in French, however, it refers to any type of foam or moss.

N

; naïveté
: Lack of sophistication, experience, judgement, or worldliness; artlessness; gullibility; credulity.
; né, née
: lit. "born": a man's/woman's birth name (maiden name for a woman), e.g., "Martha Washington, ''née'' Dandridge."
; n'est-ce pas?: "isn't it rue"
: asked rhetorically after a statement, as in "Right?".
; noblesse oblige: "nobility obliges"
: those granted a higher station in life have a duty to extend (possibly token) favours/courtesies to those in lower stations.
; nom de guerre
: pseudonym to disguise the identity of a leader of a militant group, literally "war name", used in France for "pseudonym".
; nom de plume: a "back-translation" from the English "pen name": author's pseudonym.
: Although now used in French as well, the term was coined in English by analogy with ''nom de guerre''.
; nonpareil: Unequalled, unrivalled; unparalleled; unique
: the modern French equivalent of this expression is ''sans pareil'' (literally "without equal").
; nouveau (pl. nouveaux; fem. nouvelle; fem. pl. nouvelles): new.
; nouveau riche: lit. "newly rich"
: used to refer particularly to those living a garish lifestyle with their newfound wealth; see also arriviste and parvenu.
; nouvelle vague: lit. "new wave."
: Used for stating a new way or a new trend of something. Originally marked a new style of French filmmaking in the late 1950s and early 1960s, reacting against films seen as too literary.

O

; objet d'art: a work of art, commonly a painting or sculpture; also a utilitarian object displayed for its aesthetic qualities
; œuvre: "work", in the sense of an artist's work; by extension, an artist's entire body of work.
; opéra bouffe: comedy, satire, parody or farce.
; outré: exceeding the lines of propriety; eccentric in behavior or appearance in an inappropriate way

P

; pain au chocolat: lit. "bread with chocolate." Despite the name, it is not made of bread but puff pastry with chocolate inside. The term ''chocolatine'' is used in some Francophone areas (especially the South-West) and sometimes in English.
; pain aux raisins: raisin bread.
; panache: verve; flamboyance.
; papier-mâché: lit. "chewed paper"; a craft medium using paper and paste.
; par avion: by aircraft. In English, specifically by air mail, from the phrase found on air mail envelopes.
; par excellence: better than all the others, quintessential.
; parc fermé: lit. "closed park". A secure area at a Grand Prix circuit where the cars may be stored overnight.
; parkour: urban street sport involving climbing and leaping, using buildings, walls, curbs to ricochet off much as if one were on a skateboard, often in follow-the-leader style. Originally a phonetic form of the French word ''parcours'', which means "a run, a route" Also known as, or the predecessor to, "free running", developed by Sébastien Foucan.
; parole: 1) (in linguistics) speech, more specifically the individual, personal phenomenon of language; see langue and parole. 2) (in criminal justice) conditional early release from prison; see parole.
; parvenu: a social upstart.
; pas de deux: lit. "step for two"; in ballet, a dance or figure for two performers, a duet; also a close relationship between two people.
; pas de trois: lit. "step for three"; in ballet, a dance or figure for three performers.
; passe-partout: a document or key that allows the holder to travel without hindrance from the authorities or enter any location.
; pastiche: a derivative work; an imitation.
; patois: a dialect; jargon.
; père : lit. "father", used after a man's surname to distinguish a father from a son, as in Alexandre Dumas, père.
; peloton: in road cycling, the main group of riders in a race.
; petit pois: small peas, often sold in the frozen food aisle.
; petite bourgeoisie: often anglicised as "petty bourgeoisie", used to designate the middle class.
; la petite mort: lit. "the little death"; an expression for the weakening or loss of consciousness following an intense orgasm.
; Pied-Noir (plural Pieds-Noirs): lit. "black foot", a European Algerian in the pre-independence state.
; pied-à-terre (also pied à terre) : lit. "foot-on-the-ground"; a place to stay, generally small and applied to a secondary residence in a city.
; pince-nez: lit. "nose-pincher", a type of spectacles without temple arms.
; piste: lit. "trail" or "track"; often used referring to skiing at a ski area (on piste) versus skiing in the back country (off piste).
; plage : beach, especially a fashionable seaside resort.
; plat du jour: lit. "dish of the day"; a dish served in a restaurant on a particular day but separate from the regular menu.
; plongeur (fem. plongeuse): a male (or female) dishwasher in a professional kitchen.
; plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (or ''plus ça change, plus c'est pareil'') (often abbreviated to just ''plus ça change''): the more things change, the more they stay the same. An aphorism coined by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr.
; point d'appui:a location where troops assemble prior to a battle. While this figurative meaning also exists in French, the first and literal meaning of ''point d'appui'' is a fixed point from which a person or thing executes a movement (such as a footing in climbing or a pivot).
;porte-cochère:an architectural term referring to a kind of porch or portico-like structure.
;poseur:lit. "poser": a person who pretends to be something he is not; an affected or insincere person; a wannabe.
;pot-au-feu:stew, soup.
; pour encourager les autres:lit. "to encourage others"; said of an excessive punishment meted out as an example, to deter others. The original is from Voltaire's ''Candide'' and referred to the execution of Admiral John Byng.
; pourboire:lit. "for drink"; gratuity, tip; ''donner un pourboire'': to tip.
;prairie:lit. "meadow"; expansive natural meadows of long grass.
;prêt-à-porter:lit. "ready to wear"; clothing off the shelf, in contrast to ''haute couture''.
;prie-dieu:lit. "pray oGod"; a type of prayer desk.
;prix fixe:lit. "fixed price"; a menu on which multi-course meals with only a few choices are charged at a fixed price.
;protégé (fem. protégée):lit. "protected"; a man/woman who receives support from an influential mentor.
; provocateur:an agitator, a polemicist.
;purée:lit. a smooth, creamy substance made of liquidized or crushed fruit or vegetables.

Q

; Quai d'Orsay: address of the French foreign ministry in Paris, used to refer to the ministry itself.
; Quatorze juillet: "14th of July", usually called Bastille Day in English. The beginning of the French Revolution in 1789; used to refer to the Revolution itself and its ideals. It is the French National Day.
; quelle bonne idée!: ''What a good idea!''
; quel dommage!: ''What a sad thing!'' (can be used sarcastically).
; quelle horreur!: ''What a horrible thing!'' (can be used sarcastically).
; quelle surprise!: ''What a surprising thing! (mostly used sarcastically)''

R

; raconteur: a storyteller.
; raison d'être: "reason for being": justification or purpose of existence.
; rapprochement: the establishment of cordial relations, often used in diplomacy.
; reconnaissance: scouting, the military exploration outside an area that friendly forces occupy
; Renaissance: a historical period or cultural movement of rebirth
; refoulement: the expulsion of persons who have the right to be recognised as refugees.
; reportage: reporting; journalism.
; répondez s'il-vous-plaît. (RSVP): ''Please reply''. Though francophones may use more usually "prière de répondre" or "je vous prie de bien vouloir répondre", it is common enough.
; restaurateur: a restaurant owner.
; Rive Gauche: the left (southern) bank (of the River Seine in Paris). A particular mindset attributed to inhabitants of that area, which includes the Sorbonne
; roi fainéant: lit. "do-nothing king": an expression first used about the kings of France from 670 to 752 (Thierry III to Childeric III), who were puppets of their ministers. The term was later used about other royalty who had been made powerless, also in other countries, but lost its meaning when parliamentarism made all royals powerless.
; roman à clef: lit. "novel with a key": an account of actual persons, places or events in fictional guise.
; roué: an openly debauched, lecherous older man.
; roux: a cooked mixture of flour and melted butter (or other fat) used as a base in soups and gravies.

S

; sacre bleu: lit. "sacred blue": a dated French minced oath originating from the blasphemous "sacre dieu!" ("Holy god!"). Meant as a cry of surprise or happiness.
: French orthography is ''sacrebleu'' in one word.
; sang-froid

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