French Phrases

Language	Phrase	Meaning
French	affaire de coeur	love affair
French	affaire d’honneur	a duel
French	agent provocateur	inside agent, spy
French	à la mode	fashionable
French	amateur	not professional, unskilful
French	amour propre	self-esteem, pride
French	ancien régime	the old regime
French	après moi le déluge	after me, the flood
French	à propos	regarding, concerning
French	arriviste	social climber
French	au contraire	on the contrary
French	au courant	up to date
French	au fait	expert, informed, up to date
French	au naturel	as in nature
French	avant-garde	radically original, cutting edge
French	beau geste	a fine gesture
French	beau monde	fashionable society
French	bel esprit	wit, elegance
French	belles lettres	writing valued for its aesthetic qualities
French	bête noir	annoyance, bugbear
French	billet doux	love letter
French	bon mot	witticism
French	bon vivant	person of refined tastes, gourmand
French	carte blanche	a free hand, a blank cheque
French	cause célèbre	a celebrated case
French	c’est la vie	that’s life
French	cherchez la femme	look for the woman
French	chez nous	at our place
French	comédie humaine	the human comedy
French	comme ci comme ça	so-so
French	comme il faut	as it should be
French	connoisseur	a discerning judge
French	cordon bleu	high quality
French	coup de grâce	death blow
French	coup d’état	sudden overthrow of a government
French	coup de théâtre	theatrical trick or unexpected event
French	coup de main	surprise attack
French	crème de la crème	best of its kind
French	cri de coeur	heartfelt cry
French	déclassé	fallen in social standing
French	décolletage	low-cut neckline
French	déjà vu	illusion of having experienced something already
French	demi-monde	prostitutes, bohemians
French	de rigueur	strictly required
French	dernier cri	last word, latest style
French	détente	relaxation of political tensions
French	de trop	too much, superfluous
French	double entendre	double meaning
French	du jour	of the day
French	éminence grise	power behind the throne
French	enfant terrible	prodigy, boy/girl wonder
French	en passant	incidental, in passing
French	en route	on the way
French	entente cordiale	alliance between countries
French	entre nous	confidentially
French	esprit de corps	team spirit
French	fait accompli	an accomplished fact
French	faux pas	social blunder
French	femme fatale	attractive, dangerous woman
French	film noir	black film
French	fin de siècle	decadent, jaded
French	folie à deux	delusion shared by two people
French	force majeure	irresistible force
French	haute couture	trend-setting fashion
French	haute cuisine	elaborate cookery
French	hors de combat	out of the fight, disabled
French	hors d’oeuvre	appetizer
French	idée fixe	fixed idea, obsession
French	je ne sais quoi	I don’t know what
French	jeu d’esprit	puzzle, brain teaser
French	joie de vivre	joy of life
French	laissez faire	non-interference in the affairs of others
French	lèse-majesté	high treason
French	manqué	failed
French	ménage à trois	threesome
French	mise en scène	stage setting, surroundings
French	mot juste	the right word
French	née	born
French	n’est-ce pas?	isn’t that right?
French	noblesse oblige	nobility obliges
French	nom de plume	pseudonym
French	nouveau riche	newly rich
French	objet d’art	object of some artistic worth
French	objet trouvé	found object
French	outré	exaggerated, excessive
French	par avion	by plane
French	par excellence	the best example, foremost
French	passe-partout	master key
French	petit bourgeois	lower middle classed
French	pièce de résistance	showpiece
French	pied-à-terre	apartment in town
French	plus ça change	the more things change
French	prêt-à-porter	ready to wear, to go
French	prix fixe	fixed price
French	pure laine	pure francophone
French	raison d’être	reason for being
French	réchauffé	warmed up
French	recherché	exotic, obscure
French	retroussé	turned up
French	roman à clef	novel representing real history as fiction
French	sang-froid	composure, equanimity
French	sans-souci	carefree
French	savoir faire	social tact
French	soi-disant	so-called, self-styled
French	soupçon	very small amount
French	tête-à-tête	intimate conversation
French	tour de force	exceptional achievement
French	tout de suite	immediately
French	tout le monde	everyone
French	trompe l’oeil	designed to give the illusion of reality or to deceive the eye
French	vis-à-vis	with regards to, in relation to
French	vive la différence	long live the difference
French	volte-face	reversal