French · 60 words

60 beautiful French words

Pretty, cute and elegant French words, from papillon to dépaysement, each with its pronunciation, its meaning in English and an example sentence.

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French words people fall for

Some words are worth learning for how they sound or for what they hold. This page gathers sixty French ones in six groups: cute words, cool words, elegant words, words of the sky and of nature, words of love, and words for feelings English has no word for. Each comes with its pronunciation, its meaning, a short note and an example sentence.

French has lent English many words of style, and it keeps many more: velours, crépuscule, rêverie. Others have no English twin. dépaysement is the feeling of being out of your element in a new place, and retrouvailles the joy of meeting again after a long time.

Cute French words

le papillon[lə papijɔ̃]
butterfly
A bow tie is a nœud papillon, a butterfly knot.
Un papillon se pose sur la fleur.A butterfly lands on the flower.
le doudou[lə dudu]
a child’s favourite soft toy
A word from children’s talk that grown-ups use too.
L'enfant ne dort pas sans son doudou.The child won’t sleep without his cuddly toy.
le bisou[lə bizu]
kiss (informal)
Gros bisous, big kisses, ends many messages between friends.
Fais-moi un bisou.Give me a kiss.
mignon[miɲɔ̃]
cute, sweet
Becomes mignonne for a girl or a feminine noun.
Ton chat est trop mignon.Your cat is so cute.
le câlin[lə kalɛ̃]
cuddle, hug
Faire un câlin is to give someone a cuddle.
Viens faire un câlin.Come and give me a cuddle.
la coccinelle[la kɔksinɛl]
ladybird, ladybug
Said to bring good luck in France.
Une coccinelle marche sur ma main.A ladybird is walking on my hand.
la bulle[la byl]
bubble
Also the speech balloon in a comic.
L'enfant fait des bulles de savon.The child is blowing soap bubbles.
le chaton[lə ʃatɔ̃]
kitten
chat, cat, with a small ending.
Le chaton dort au soleil.The kitten is sleeping in the sun.
ma puce[ma pys]
my flea; sweetie
An odd but very common pet name for a child or a partner.
Bonne nuit, ma puce.Good night, sweetie.
le pompon[lə pɔ̃pɔ̃]
pompom
French navy sailors wear a red one on their caps.
Son bonnet a un gros pompon.Her hat has a big pompom.

Cool French words

l'éternité[letɛʁnite]feminine
eternity
Feminine, like most French words ending in -té.
J'ai attendu une éternité.I waited for an eternity.
le destin[lə dɛstɛ̃]
destiny, fate
The final n is not said; the vowel before it is nasal.
C'était le destin.It was destiny.
l'orage[lɔʁaʒ]masculine
storm, thunderstorm
A storm with thunder; a tempête is a storm of wind.
Un orage arrive ce soir.A storm is coming tonight.
la foudre[la fudʁ]
lightning, thunderbolt
un coup de foudre is love at first sight.
La foudre est tombée sur l'arbre.Lightning struck the tree.
le guerrier[lə ɡɛʁje]
warrior
Becomes guerrière for a woman.
Il s'est battu comme un guerrier.He fought like a warrior.
la légende[la leʒɑ̃d]
legend
Also the caption under a picture.
Ce chanteur est une légende.This singer is a legend.
l'infini[lɛ̃fini]masculine
infinity; infinite
Both a noun and an adjective.
La mer semblait aller jusqu'à l'infini.The sea seemed to go on to infinity.
le loup[lə lu]
wolf
mon loup, my wolf, is also a pet name.
Un loup hurle dans la forêt.A wolf is howling in the forest.
noir[nwaʁ]
black
Film noir took the word into English.
Elle porte une robe noire.She is wearing a black dress.
l'ombre[lɔ̃bʁ]feminine
shade, shadow
The colour fade called ombré comes from it.
Le chat dort à l'ombre.The cat is sleeping in the shade.

Elegant French words

éphémère[efemɛʁ]
short-lived
Also the name of the mayfly, which lives a single day.
Le bonheur est parfois éphémère.Happiness is sometimes short-lived.
le crépuscule[lə kʁepyskyl]
twilight, dusk
Usually the evening light, though it can be the morning one too.
Nous sommes rentrés au crépuscule.We came home at dusk.
le murmure[lə myʁmyʁ]
murmur
A word that sounds like what it means.
J'entends le murmure de la rivière.I can hear the murmur of the river.
la douceur[la dusœʁ]
softness, gentleness, sweetness
la douceur de vivre is the sweetness of life.
Elle parle avec douceur.She speaks with gentleness.
le velours[lə vəluʁ]
velvet
Velcro is named after it: velours plus crochet, hook.
Elle porte une veste en velours.She is wearing a velvet jacket.
l'élégance[leleɡɑ̃s]feminine
elegance
Feminine, though the l’ hides it.
Elle danse avec beaucoup d'élégance.She dances with great elegance.
le charme[lə ʃaʁm]
charm
From Latin carmen, a song or a spell.
Ce village a beaucoup de charme.This village has a lot of charm.
la rêverie[la ʁɛvʁi]
daydream, reverie
English borrowed it whole.
Il était perdu dans sa rêverie.He was lost in his daydream.
la lueur[la lɥœʁ]
glimmer, faint light
une lueur d’espoir is a glimmer of hope.
On voyait la lueur d'une bougie.You could see the glimmer of a candle.
le chuchotement[lə ʃyʃɔtmɑ̃]
whisper
Say it and you are almost whispering.
J'ai entendu un chuchotement dans le noir.I heard a whisper in the dark.

French words for the sky and nature

l'aube[lob]feminine
dawn
From Latin alba, white.
Nous sommes partis à l'aube.We left at dawn.
l'étoile[letwal]feminine
star
A danseuse étoile is a principal dancer of the Paris Opera Ballet.
Regarde cette étoile.Look at that star.
la lune[la lyn]
moon
être dans la lune, to be in the moon, is to daydream.
La lune est pleine ce soir.The moon is full tonight.
l'arc-en-ciel[laʁkɑ̃sjɛl]masculine
rainbow
Literally an arch in the sky.
Après la pluie, il y a un arc-en-ciel.After the rain, there is a rainbow.
la brise[la bʁiz]
breeze
Lighter than le vent, the wind.
Une petite brise souffle sur la plage.A little breeze is blowing over the beach.
la rosée[la ʁoze]
dew
From Latin ros, dew.
Le matin, l'herbe est couverte de rosée.In the morning the grass is covered in dew.
le printemps[lə pʁɛ̃tɑ̃]
spring
From Latin, the first time of the year.
Au printemps, les arbres fleurissent.In spring the trees blossom.
le soleil[lə sɔlɛj]
sun
Louis XIV was le Roi-Soleil, the Sun King.
Le soleil se couche sur la mer.The sun is setting over the sea.
la fleur[la flœʁ]
flower
à fleur de peau, at the flower of the skin, describes feelings close to the surface.
Il m'a offert une fleur.He gave me a flower.
le ciel[lə sjɛl]
sky; heaven
In poems and prayers the plural is cieux.
Le ciel est tout bleu aujourd'hui.The sky is all blue today.

French words of love

l'amour[lamuʁ]masculine
love
Masculine in the singular, often feminine in the plural in poems.
L'amour change tout.Love changes everything.
mon cœur[mɔ̃ kœʁ]
my heart; my darling
A pet name for a partner or a child.
Bonjour, mon cœur.Hello, my darling.
la tendresse[la tɑ̃dʁɛs]
tenderness
From tendre, which also means soft.
Elle regarde son fils avec tendresse.She looks at her son with tenderness.
le baiser[lə beze]
kiss
As a noun it is a kiss; as a verb it has become vulgar, so say embrasser.
Il lui a donné un baiser.He gave her a kiss.
chéri[ʃeʁi]
darling
chérie for a woman; it sounds the same.
Tu viens, chéri ?Are you coming, darling?
tomber amoureux[tɔ̃be amuʁø]
to fall in love
tomber is to fall, just as in English.
Ils sont tombés amoureux à Paris.They fell in love in Paris.
l'âme sœur[lam sœʁ]feminine
soulmate
Literally sister soul.
Il a trouvé son âme sœur.He found his soulmate.
la passion[la pasjɔ̃]
passion
Spelled as in English, said the French way.
Il parle de musique avec passion.He talks about music with passion.
adorer[adɔʁe]
to adore, to love
Used for food and songs as easily as for people.
J'adore cette chanson.I love this song.
la caresse[la kaʁɛs]
caress, stroke
caresser is to stroke, a cat or a cheek.
Le chat aime les caresses.The cat loves being stroked.

French words for feelings English has no word for

les retrouvailles[le ʁətʁuvaj]feminine
the joy of meeting again after a long time
Always plural; English needs a whole phrase for it.
Les retrouvailles avec mes amis étaient émouvantes.Seeing my friends again was very moving.
flâner[flane]
to stroll with no aim
The flâneur, the city stroller, is a figure of Paris.
J'aime flâner dans les rues de Paris.I love to stroll through the streets of Paris.
le dépaysement[lə depeizmɑ̃]
the feeling of being somewhere new and different
From pays, country: being taken out of your own.
Ce voyage nous a offert un vrai dépaysement.This trip gave us a real change of scene.
la joie de vivre[la ʒwa də vivʁ]
joy of living
English uses the French phrase as it is.
Elle a une grande joie de vivre.She has great joie de vivre.
la nostalgie[la nɔstalʒi]
nostalgia
Feminine, like most French words ending in -ie.
Cette chanson me remplit de nostalgie.This song fills me with nostalgia.
l'esprit de l'escalier[lɛspʁi də lɛskalje]masculine
the perfect reply you think of too late
Literally staircase wit, from Denis Diderot: it comes to you on the way down the stairs.
La bonne réponse m'est venue trop tard : c'était l'esprit de l'escalier.The right answer came to me too late: it was staircase wit.
le coup de foudre[lə ku də fudʁ]
love at first sight
Literally a stroke of lightning.
Entre eux, ce fut le coup de foudre.For them it was love at first sight.
la mélancolie[la melɑ̃kɔli]
melancholy
From the Greek for black bile.
Il y a de la mélancolie dans sa voix.There is melancholy in his voice.
savourer[savuʁe]
to savour, to enjoy slowly
From saveur, flavour.
Je savoure mon café le matin.I savour my coffee in the morning.
le bonheur[lə bɔnœʁ]
happiness
From bon and heur, an old word for luck.
Le bonheur est dans les petites choses.Happiness lies in the little things.

Meet these words in easy stories

Using a French word for a name or a design

Keep the article. le or la shows whether a noun is masculine or feminine, and the adjectives follow it: le petit nuage, la petite étoile. Before a vowel both become l’, so the list marks those nouns. Keep the accents too, since French speakers read a word without them as misspelled.

Then meet the word in a sentence. A word learnt from a list is easy to forget; a word met in a story stays. Lingard’s French stories for beginners let you tap any word for its meaning in that sentence and keep it for short reviews.

Questions about these words

What is the most beautiful French word?: There is no official answer. Among the words on this page, douceur, papillon and rêverie are often chosen for their sound, and dépaysement for a meaning English needs a sentence for.
Which French words are cute?: Words of childhood and affection: doudou, a child’s favourite soft toy, bisou, a little kiss, câlin, a cuddle, and pet names like ma puce, literally my flea.
How do I pronounce these words?: Read the pronunciation next to each word. French leaves many final letters silent, so velours ends in an r sound and printemps in a nasal vowel. The wavy mark in ɑ̃ or ɔ̃ means the vowel is said through the nose.

Other languages: 60 beautiful English words 60 beautiful Spanish words 60 beautiful German words