laid

fr-adj

laid (feminine laide, masculine plural laids, feminine plural laides)

laide (feminine)
laids (masculine plural)
laides (feminine plural)

From Middle French laid (“hideous, ugly”), from Old French laid, leid (“unpleasant, horrible, odious”), from Vulgar Latin *laitus (“unpleasant, ugly”), from Frankish *laiþ (“unpleasant, obstinate, odious”), from Proto-Germanic *laiþaz (“sorrowful, unpleasant”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“unpleasant”).
Akin to Old High German leid (“unpleasant, odious”) (German leid (“unfortunate”), Leid (“grief”)), Old Norse leiþr (“odious”), Old English lāþ (“unpleasant, odious”), Catalan lleig (“ugly”), Occitan lag (“ugly”). More at loath.


beau

fr-adj

beau (masculine singular before vowel bel, feminine belle, masculine plural beaux, feminine plural belles)

bel (before-vowel masculine singular)
belle (feminine)
beaux (masculine plural)
belles (feminine plural)

→ English: beau, Beau, belle, Belle

Inherited from Middle French beau, from Old French biau, bel, from Latin bellus.


canon

From the above noun (see sense 4) by conversion.

Cette nouvelle coupe de cheveux te va trop bien, t’es canon!

This new hair really suits you, you're hot!


camouflage

→ English: camouflage

→ Japanese: カモフラージュ

→ German: Camouflage

→ Greek: καμουφλάζ n (kamoufláz)

→ Korean: 카무플라주 (kamupeullaju)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: kamuflasje

→ Portuguese: camuflagem

→ Romanian: camuflaj

→ Russian: камуфля́ж (kamufljáž) (see there for further descendants)

→ Spanish: camuflaje

→ Turkish: kamuflaj

From camoufler (“disguise, to hide”) + -age (noun-forming suffix).


grotesque

→ Romanian: grotesc

From Middle French grotesque, from Italian grottesco (“of a cave”), from grotta.


thon

→ Romanian: ton

→ Turkish: ton

From Latin thunnus, thynnus (itself from Ancient Greek θύννος (thúnnos)), possibly through the intermediate of Old Occitan ton.


jolie laide

Literally, “pretty [and] ugly”, or more loosely translated as “with unusual, flawed or quirky good looks”.


bombe

→ Danish: bombe

→ English: bombe

→ German: Bombe

→ Lao: ບົມ (bom)

→ Persian: بمب (bomb)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: bombe

→ Vietnamese: bom

Borrowed from Italian bomba, from Latin bombus (“a boom”).


délicat

fr-adj

délicat (feminine délicate, masculine plural délicats, feminine plural délicates)

délicate (feminine)
délicats (masculine plural)
délicates (feminine plural)

→ Alemannic German: delekat

→ Danish: delikat

desctree

→ German: delikat
→ Polish: delikatny
→ Russian: деликатный (delikatnyj)

→ Norwegian: delikat

→ Romanian: delicat

→ Swedish: delikat

Inherited from Middle French delicat, borrowed from Latin dēlicātus.


mignon

fr-adj

mignon (feminine mignonne, masculine plural mignons, feminine plural mignonnes)

mignonne (feminine)
mignons (masculine plural)
mignonnes (feminine plural)

→ English: mignon

→ Italian: mignon

→ Portuguese: mignon

→ Turkish: minyon

Inherited from Middle French mignon, from Old French mignon (“dainty, pleasing, gentle, kind”), from Frankish *minnjo (“love, friendship, affection, memory”), from Proto-Germanic *minþijō, *mindijō (“affectionate thought, care”), from Proto-Indo-European *men-, *mnā- (“to think”). Cognate with Old High German minna (“love, care, affection, desire, memory”), Old Saxon minnia (“love”), Old Dutch minna (Dutch min). More at mind.


joli

fr-adj

joli (feminine jolie, masculine plural jolis, feminine plural jolies)

jolie (feminine)
jolis (masculine plural)
jolies (feminine plural)

Inherited from Middle French joly (“considerable, ingenious, agreeable, pretty”), from Old French joli, jolif (“pretty, smart, joyful, merry”), possibly from Old Norse jól (midwinter festival), from Proto-Germanic *jehwlą, *jeulō (“Yule, Yule month, December”) (more at yule); alternatively from Vulgar Latin *gaudivus (from Latin gaudeō, more at joy).

inh+

Julie, fille jolie, un jour était allée
cueillir au cœur des blés la belle fleur des blés,
des bleuets pour s’en faire une couronne bleue,
se faire une couronne et se distraire un peu.

1980, Géza Képes, Béla Kàlmàn, Péter Domokos, Le pouvoir du chant : anthologie de la poésie populaire ouralienne:

Julie, a pretty girl, had gone one day
to pick among the wheat the beautiful flower of the cornfields,
cornflowers to make herself a blue wreath,
to make herself a wreath and amuse herself a little.


affreux

fr-adj

affreux (feminine affreuse, masculine plural affreux, feminine plural affreuses)

affreuse (feminine)
affreux (masculine plural)
affreuses (feminine plural)

→ Dutch: affreus

→ English: affreux

→ German: affrös

From affre (“great fear”) + -eux. See affres.


attirant

attirant (feminine attirante, masculine plural attirants, feminine plural attirantes)

attirante (feminine)
attirants (masculine plural)
attirantes (feminine plural)

Des psychologues ont essayé d’analyser quels traits physiques étaient considérés comme attirants.

Psychologists attempted to analyze which physical traits were considered attractive.


blafard

blafard (feminine blafarde, masculine plural blafards, feminine plural blafardes)

blafarde (feminine)
blafards (masculine plural)
blafardes (feminine plural)

From Middle High German bleichvar (“pale-coloured”), from bleich (“pale”) + var (“colour”) (compare German Farbe).

der

À travers les vitres, de chaque côté, on distinguait un soleil terne, blafard, semé de grandes taches noires, un peu plus lumineux en son centre.

1947, Boris Vian, L'écume des jours, Kindle edition:


morue

Haitian Creole: lanmori

From Old French morlue, derived from Latin morua (“cod”).


maigrir

maigrir (infinitive)
avoir + past participle (infinitive multiword-construction)
maigrissant (gerund participle present)
maigrissant (gerund participle present)
ayant + past participle (gerund multiword-construction participle present)
maigri (participle past)
maigri (participle past)
maigris (first-person indicative present singular)
maigris (first-person indicative present singular)
maigris (indicative present second-person singular)
maigris (indicative present second-person singular)
maigrit (indicative present singular third-person)
maigrit (indicative present singular third-person)
maigrissons (first-person indicative plural present)
maigrissons (first-person indicative plural present)
maigrissez (indicative plural present second-person)
maigrissez (indicative plural present second-person)
maigrissent (indicative plural present third-person)
maigrissent (indicative plural present third-person)
maigrissais (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
maigrissais (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
maigrissais (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
maigrissais (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
maigrissait (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
maigrissait (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
maigrissions (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
maigrissions (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
maigrissiez (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
maigrissiez (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
maigrissaient (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
maigrissaient (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
maigris (first-person historic indicative past singular)
maigris (first-person historic indicative past singular)
maigris (historic indicative past second-person singular)
maigris (historic indicative past second-person singular)
maigrit (historic indicative past singular third-person)
maigrit (historic indicative past singular third-person)
maigrîmes (first-person historic indicative past plural)
maigrîmes (first-person historic indicative past plural)
maigrîtes (historic indicative past plural second-person)
maigrîtes (historic indicative past plural second-person)
maigrirent (historic indicative past plural third-person)
maigrirent (historic indicative past plural third-person)
maigrirai (first-person future indicative singular)
maigrirai (first-person future indicative singular)
maigriras (future indicative second-person singular)
maigriras (future indicative second-person singular)
maigrira (future indicative singular third-person)
maigrira (future indicative singular third-person)
maigrirons (first-person future indicative plural)
maigrirons (first-person future indicative plural)
maigrirez (future indicative plural second-person)
maigrirez (future indicative plural second-person)
maigriront (future indicative plural third-person)
maigriront (future indicative plural third-person)
maigrirais (conditional first-person singular)
maigrirais (conditional first-person singular)
maigrirais (conditional second-person singular)
maigrirais (conditional second-person singular)
maigrirait (conditional singular third-person)
maigrirait (conditional singular third-person)
maigririons (conditional first-person plural)
maigririons (conditional first-person plural)
maigririez (conditional plural second-person)
maigririez (conditional plural second-person)
maigriraient (conditional plural third-person)
maigriraient (conditional plural third-person)
future of avoir + past participle (future indicative multiword-construction perfect)
conditional of avoir + past participle (conditional multiword-construction perfect)
maigrisse (first-person present singular subjunctive)
maigrisse (first-person present singular subjunctive)
maigrisses (present second-person singular subjunctive)
maigrisses (present second-person singular subjunctive)
maigrisse (present singular subjunctive third-person)
maigrisse (present singular subjunctive third-person)
maigrissions (first-person plural present subjunctive)
maigrissions (first-person plural present subjunctive)
maigrissiez (plural present second-person subjunctive)
maigrissiez (plural present second-person subjunctive)
maigrissent (plural present subjunctive third-person)
maigrissent (plural present subjunctive third-person)
maigrisse (first-person imperfect singular subjunctive)
maigrisse (first-person imperfect singular subjunctive)
maigrisses (imperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
maigrisses (imperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
maigrît (imperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
maigrît (imperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
maigrissions (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
maigrissions (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
maigrissiez (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
maigrissiez (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
maigrissent (imperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
maigrissent (imperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
maigris (imperative second-person singular)
maigris (imperative second-person singular)
maigrissons (first-person imperative plural)
maigrissons (first-person imperative plural)
maigrissez (imperative plural second-person)
maigrissez (imperative plural second-person)


barrique

→ German: Barrique

→ Italian: barrique

→ Malagasy: barika

→ Moore: barika

→ Moore: birkɛ

Borrowed from Old Occitan barrica, from Vulgar Latin *barrica (“barrel, cask”), from Gaulish *baril (“cask, barrel”); perhaps related to the source of Vulgar Latin *barra.


abajoue

(anatomy, zoology) a pouch in the cheek of some animals, usually used to carry food; a cheek pouch


vilain

fr-adj

vilain (feminine vilaine, masculine plural vilains, feminine plural vilaines)

vilaine (feminine)
vilains (masculine plural)
vilaines (feminine plural)

Inherited from Old French vilain, vilein, villein, from Late Latin vīllānus (“farm worker”), from Latin vīlla. Not related to vil.

une vilaine couleur

une vilaine voix


moche

From moque, present indicative of moquer (“to mock”).

Putain, qu’est-ce qu’elle est moche!


étalon

Inherited from Middle French étalon, from Old French estalon, from Frankish *stalō, *stalu, from Proto-Germanic *staluz. Compare Middle Dutch stele, stael.

standard, reference sample (something used as a measure for comparative evaluations)


laid comme un pou

laid comme un pou (feminine laide comme un pou, masculine plural laids comme des poux, feminine plural laides comme des poux)

laide comme un pou (feminine)
laids comme des poux (masculine plural)
laides comme des poux (feminine plural)

LL-Q150 (fra)-Lepticed7-laid comme un pou.wav

looking like the back end of a bus
look like the back end of a bus

(simile) ugly as sin; looking like the back end of a bus (extremely ugly)


beau comme un dieu

beau comme un dieu (feminine belle comme une déesse, masculine plural beaux comme des dieux, feminine plural belles comme des déesses)

belle comme une déesse (feminine)
beaux comme des dieux (masculine plural)
belles comme des déesses (feminine plural)

LL-Q150 (fra)-LoquaxFR-beau comme un dieu.wav

(simile) Extremely good-looking and attractive; like a Greek god


callipyge

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek καλλίπυγος (kallípugos).

lbor

callipygian (having beautifully shaped buttocks)


pétard

→ Italian: petardo

→ Spanish: petardo


blême

Putain, c’ qu’il est blême, mon HLM ! / Et la môme du huitième, le hasch, elle l’aime !

1980, “Dans Mon H.L.M.”, in Marche à l'ombre, performed by Renaud:

Fuck, my block of flats is drab! / And the girl on the eighth floor, she likes hash!

Bertrand était devenu blême, il avait quand même acheté son stock de saumon, et deux bouteilles de vodka.

2015 January, Virginie Despentes, Vernon Subutex, volume 1, Éditions Grasset, →ISBN, page 21:


raffiné

fr-adj

raffiné (feminine raffinée, masculine plural raffinés, feminine plural raffinées)

raffinée (feminine)
raffinés (masculine plural)
raffinées (feminine plural)


horreur

Inherited from Old French horror, borrowed from Latin horror, from the verb horreo (“to shiver”). The feminine gender's origin is unclear.

Ce bâtiment est une véritable horreur


nabot

fr-noun

nabot m (plural nabots, feminine nabote)

Probably form a denasalised form of nain + bot.


gaulé

fr-adj

gaulé (feminine gaulée, masculine plural gaulés, feminine plural gaulées)

gaulée (feminine)
gaulés (masculine plural)
gaulées (feminine plural)

From the verb gauler (“to knock down with a pole”)

Il est bien gaulé ce mec.

Elle était gaulée comme une bouteille de Coca.

(slang, of a person) shaped, made (usually with qualifying word or phrase)


hagard

hagard (feminine hagarde, masculine plural hagards, feminine plural hagardes)

hagarde (feminine)
hagards (masculine plural)
hagardes (feminine plural)


dulcinée

From Dulcinée, calque of the Spanish Dulcinea, a character from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.


hideux

hideux (feminine hideuse, masculine plural hideux, feminine plural hideuses)

hideuse (feminine)
hideux (masculine plural)
hideuses (feminine plural)

From Middle French hideux, from Old French hideus, hydus, hisdos (“that which inspires terror”), from hide, hede, hisda (“horror, fear”), from Proto-West Germanic *agisiþu (“horror, terror”), from Proto-West Germanic *agisōn (“to frighten, terrorise”), from Proto-Germanic *agaz (“terror, fear”).
Alternative etymology cites possible derivation from Latin hispidosus (“rugged”), from hispidus (“rough, bristly”), yet the semantic evolution is more difficult to trace.


avenant

fr-adj

avenant (feminine avenante, masculine plural avenants, feminine plural avenantes)

avenante (feminine)
avenants (masculine plural)
avenantes (feminine plural)

Past participle of avenir, variant of advenir.

Par les larges hublots du lab, sis au sixième étage, la vue dominait une mer orangée de tuiles en terre cuite qui rappelaient que cette ville avait été, avant d’être « civinisée », une plutôt avenante cité provençale.

2019, Alain Damasio, chapter 4, in Les furtifs [The Stealthies], La Volte, →ISBN:

The view from the lab's big windows, located on the sixth floor, overlooked a sea of orange terracotta tiles, which were a reminder that before it was "civinized", this had been a rather charming Provençal town.


ébouriffé

ébouriffé (feminine ébouriffée, masculine plural ébouriffés, feminine plural ébouriffées)

ébouriffée (feminine)
ébouriffés (masculine plural)
ébouriffées (feminine plural)

Et c’est dans ma chevelure ébouriffée / Qu’il va le plus me manquer

1963, “La Madrague”, Jean-Max Rivière (lyrics), Gérard Bourgeois (music), performed by Brigitte Bardot:


vieux jeu

→ Dutch: vieux jeu

→ English: vieux jeu


crâne d'œuf

crâne d’ œuf (canonical masculine)
crânes d’œuf (plural)

(derogatory) bald-headed person, egghead, bald head, baldie


grandet

grandet (feminine grandette, masculine plural grandets, feminine plural grandettes)

grandette (feminine)
grandets (masculine plural)
grandettes (feminine plural)


binoclard

binoclard (feminine binoclarde, masculine plural binoclards, feminine plural binoclardes)

binoclarde (feminine)
binoclards (masculine plural)
binoclardes (feminine plural)


bigleux

bigleux (feminine bigleuse, masculine plural bigleux, feminine plural bigleuses)

bigleuse (feminine)
bigleux (masculine plural)
bigleuses (feminine plural)

(informal, derogatory) cross-eyed, squinting, short-sighted (etc.)


bonasse

Tu préfères une fille mignonne ou une fille bonasse?

Do you prefer a cute girl or a hot girl?


voluptueux

voluptueux (feminine voluptueuse, masculine plural voluptueux, feminine plural voluptueuses)

voluptueuse (feminine)
voluptueux (masculine plural)
voluptueuses (feminine plural)

Borrowed from Latin voluptuōsus. See volupté and -eux.


bonnasse

T’as vu la bonnasse qui vient de passer ?

Did you see the hottie that just passed by?

(slang, slightly derogatory) a hottie, a bombshell, a stunna


apollon

Adonis, Greek god, hunk (very beautiful man)


vilain petit canard

fr-noun

vilain petit canard m (plural vilains petits canards)


laid comme les sept péchés capitaux

fr-adj

laid comme les sept péchés capitaux (feminine laide comme les sept péchés capitaux, masculine plural laids comme les sept péchés capitaux, feminine plural laides comme les sept péchés capitaux)

laide comme les sept péchés capitaux (feminine)
laids comme les sept péchés capitaux (masculine plural)
laides comme les sept péchés capitaux (feminine plural)

LL-Q150 (fra)-Lepticed7-laid comme les sept péchés capitaux.wav

Literally, “ugly as the seven deadly sins”.

lit

like the back end of a bus
like the back end of a bus

(simile, dated) ugly as sin; looking like the back end of a bus (extremely ugly)


avion de chasse

fr-noun

avion de chasse m (plural avions de chasse)

LL-Q150 (fra)-LoquaxFR-avion de chasse.wav

Cette fille est un avion de chasse, elle pourrait être mannequin !

This girl is a bombshell, she could be a model!

(informal) a hottie, a bombshell (a very attractive woman)


prince charmant

prince charmant m (plural princes charmants)

/pʁɛ̃s ʃaʁ.mɑ̃/


stéatopyge

From Ancient Greek στέαρ, στέατος (stéar, stéatos, “fat”) + πυγή (pugḗ, “buttocks”), on the model of callipyge.

der

στέαρ, στέατος


boule à zéro

avoir la boule à zéro

to have no hair left, to be shaven to skin level


beau gosse

fr-noun

beau gosse m (plural beaux gosses, feminine belle gosse)

beaux gosses (plural)
belle gosse (feminine)

desc

→ Moroccan Arabic: بوكوص (būgūṣ), بوگوص (būgūṣ), بوڭوص (būgūṣ)

Salut beau gosse !

Il est plutôt beau gosse.

(informal) good-looking guy, hot guy, handsome man, hunk


beau comme un cœur

fr-adj

beau comme un cœur (feminine belle comme un cœur, masculine plural beaux comme des cœurs, feminine plural belles comme des cœurs)

belle comme un cœur (feminine)
beaux comme des cœurs (masculine plural)
belles comme des cœurs (feminine plural)

Literally, “beautiful as a heart, pretty as a heart”.

lit

(simile, of people) pretty as a picture, cute as a button


pied-bot

(derogatory) a person with a clubfoot, a club-footed person


beau comme le jour

fr-adj

beau comme le jour (feminine belle comme le jour, masculine plural beaux comme le jour, feminine plural belles comme le jour)

belle comme le jour (feminine)
beaux comme le jour (masculine plural)
belles comme le jour (feminine plural)


formeux

formeux (feminine formeuse, masculine plural formeux, feminine plural formeuses)

formeuse (feminine)
formeux (masculine plural)
formeuses (feminine plural)

Inherited from Middle French formeus, from Latin fōrmōsus.

Des imaginations entretenues tous ces jours dans la fluide pensée de la Syrène par la vue de la merveille féminine des flots formeux, de l’étrange fleur de l’éponge pourprée.

Imaginations maintained all these days in the fluid thought of the Siren by the sight of the feminine marvel of the beautiful waves, of the strange flower of the purple sponge.


canon de beauté

fr-noun

canon de beauté m (plural canons de beauté)


grillot

(Louisiana) a kernel of dried unripened corn

(Louisiana) a kernel of unpopped popcorn, an old maid

(Louisiana) a marble, especially one made of agate


grillot

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.