French–English dictionary

frêle

Of inferior significance, size, or strength; ineffective, small, weak. [from 16th c.]

frelon

A large wasp, of the genus Vespa, having a brown-and-yellow-striped body and the ability to inflict a serious sting.

frémir

(intransitive) To shake or move with slight and tremulous motion.

frémissement

(weaponry) A container for arrows, crossbow bolts or darts, such as those fired from a bow, crossbow or blowgun.

frêne

(uncountable) The wood of this tree.

frénésie

A state of wild activity or panic.

frénétique

In a state of panic, worry, frenzy, or rush.

frénétiquement

In a frantic way.

fréquemment

As a rule; frequently; usually.

fréquence

The rate of occurrence.

fréquent

Done or occurring often; common.

fréquentation

(countable) A person or persons with whom one is acquainted. [from 14th c.]

fréquente

Done or occurring often; common.

fréquenter

(intransitive) To spend time socially; keep company.

fréquenter des femmes de petite vertu

(intransitive, archaic, now, humorous) To frequent prostitutes; to whore; also, to womanize.

fréquenter des gens

(intransitive) To interact with others, especially personally, informally and off the clock rather than formally and officially.

frèrâtre

The stepson of one's parent who is not one's half-brother.

frère

A member of the Moravian Church.

frère et sœur

A person who shares a parent; one's brother or sister who one shares a parent with.

frères

(figuratively) The body of members, especially of a fraternal, religious or military order.

frères et sœurs

A person who shares a parent; one's brother or sister who one shares a parent with.

fret

(uncountable) Goods or items in transport; cargo, luggage.

frétiller

To swing from side to side, as an animal's tail, or someone's head to express disagreement or disbelief.

fretin

Chiefly with a qualifying word: any of a number of other (small) fish from the family Cyprinidae; also (chiefly, US) , other small (usually freshwater) fish from other families.

frette

(music) One of the pieces of metal, plastic or wood across the neck of a guitar or other string instrument that marks where a finger should be positioned to depress a string as it is played.

freudien

Relating to or influenced by the Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939).

freux

A European bird, Corvus frugilegus, of the crow family.

friandise

A food item prepared very sweet, frequently decorated in fine detail, and often preserved with sugar, such as a candy, sweetmeat, fruit preserve, pastry, or cake.

fric

(slang, US, or, Cockney) Money.

fricatif

(phonetics) produced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity.

fricative

(phonetics) Any of several speech sounds produced by air flowing through a constriction in the oral cavity and typically producing a sibilant, hissing, or buzzing quality; a fricative consonant.

friche

(of agricultural land) Left unworked and uncropped for some amount of time.

friction

The rubbing of one object or surface against another.

fridolin

(UK, offensive, ethnic slur) A German person, usually male.

Frigg

(Germanic mythology, Norse goddess) The wife of Odin, and the Norse/Germanic goddess of married love, the heavens, home and hearth, after whom Friday is named (due to her being identified with Venus).

frigo

(informal) A refrigerator. [from 1920s]

frigolite

Expanded polystyrene foam, such as is used in cups and packaging.

frileux

(sciences) Affected by, or sensitive to, cold.

Fringant

The fourth reindeer of Santa Claus.

fringue

(colloquial) Any least part of a fabric or clothing.

fringues

(plural only) Items of clothing; apparel.

fripe

A piece of old cloth, especially one used for cleaning, patching, etc.; a tattered piece of cloth; a shred or tatter.

fripon

Sometimes diminutive: a cheeky person or creature; a troublemaker.

friponnerie

mischievous behaviour

fripouille

Sometimes diminutive: a cheeky person or creature; a troublemaker.

frire

(transitive) To cook (food) by deep-frying.

frisbee

A disk-shaped gliding toy, sold under the brand name Frisbee.

frise

A decorated cloth hung at the back of a stage.

frise chronologique

A graphical representation of a chronological sequence of events (past or future).

friseur

(now, _, rare) A hairdresser.

friseuse

A person who cuts or styles hair as an occupation or profession.

frisquet

(informal) Of the weather, rather cold.

frisson

An uncomfortable and numbing sense of fear, dread, anxiety, or alarm, often one that is sudden and usually accompanied by a trembling nerve response resembling the body's response to biting cold.

frissonner

(intransitive, figuratively) To be in a state of elevated anxiety or anger.

frite

An excited state of joy; a feeling of intense happiness.

fritte

A fused mixture of materials used to make glass.

friture

(uncountable) Interference on a broadcast signal caused by atmospheric disturbances; heard as crackles on radio, or seen as random specks on television.

fritz

(UK, offensive, ethnic slur) A German person, usually male.

frivole

Silly, especially at an inappropriate time or in an inappropriate manner; lacking a good reason for being, or for doing what one does; due to or moved by a whim or caprice.

frivolité

(countable) A lighthearted or frivolous act.

froc

A monk's hood that can be pulled forward to cover the face; a robe with such a hood attached to it.

frœur

A person who shares a parent; one's brother or sister who one shares a parent with.

froid

(medicine) Cold, chilly; used of low body temperature, especially in connection with certain diseases such as malaria and cholera.

froide

Unfriendly; emotionally distant or unfeeling.

froidement

In a cold or uncaring manner; indifferently.

froideur

The relative lack of heat.

froissé

Having a crease or creases.

froisser

(ambitransitive) To fold, crease, crumple, or wad.

frôler

(ambitransitive) To touch with a sweeping motion, or lightly in passing.

fromage

(photography) Said while being photographed, to give the impression of smiling.

fromage blanc

A cheese curd product with a mild flavor that is drained but not pressed so some whey remains.

fromage de tête

(chiefly, British) Head cheese; a terrine made from the head of a pig or calf; originally boar's meat.

froment

(countable) Any of several cereal grains, of the genus Triticum, that yields flour as used in bakery.

fronce

A fold or wrinkle.

froncement

A wrinkling of the forehead with the eyebrows brought together, typically indicating displeasure, severity, or concentration.

froncer

(transitive) To pull one's brows or eyebrows together due to concentration, worry, etc.

froncer les sourcils

(intransitive) To have a frown on one's face.

fronde

(botany) The leaf of a fern, especially a compound leaf.

frontal

(computing) That part of a hardware or software system that is conceptually closest to the user; the user interface.

frontière

A boundary or limit.

frottement

The rubbing of one object or surface against another.

frotter

To scour; to burnish; to polish; to brighten; to cleanse; often with up or over.

frottis

(gynaecology) A screening test meant to detect pre-cancerous and cancerous cells by taking a sample (‘smear’) of cells from the cervix.

froufrou

A strip of pleated fabric or paper used as decoration or trim.

froufrouter

(intransitive) To rustle, as stiff cloth when moved.

froussard

A person who lacks courage.

froussarde

A person who lacks courage.

fructification

The condition of bearing fruit.

fructifier

(intransitive) To bear fruit; to generate useful products or ideas.

fructose

(carbohydrate) A monosaccharide ketose sugar, formula C6H12O6.

fructueux

Being productive in any sense; yielding benefits.

fructus

(now, _, rare) The produce or income derived from farmland or rental properties.

frugal

Of something which is consumed (such as money, goods, etc.): Careful or wise in expenditure; avoiding waste.

frugalité

The quality of being frugal; prudent economy.

frugivore

An animal whose diet is mostly fruit.

fruit

(dated, colloquial, derogatory) A homosexual man; (derogatory, figurative) an effeminate man. [from 1900]

fruit à coque

(food, broadly) Any of various hard-shelled seeds or hard, dry fruits from various families of plants.

fruit sec

Small fruit that has been preserved by drying.

fruité

Containing fruit or fruit flavoring.

fruits de mer

Fish, shellfish, seaweed, and other edible aquatic life.

frustrant

Discouraging; causing annoyance or anger by excessive difficulty.

frustrer

(transitive) To disappoint or defeat; to vex by depriving of something expected or desired.

fruticée

A planting of shrubs; a wide border to a garden where shrubs are thickly planted; or a similar larger area with a path winding through it.

fudge

(chiefly, _, uncountable) A type of very sweet candy or confection, usually made from sugar, butter, and milk or cream.

fugace

Passing quickly; of short duration.

fugacement

in a fleeting manner; transiently

fugitif

A person who flees or escapes and travels secretly from place to place, and sometimes using disguises and aliases to conceal their identity, as to avoid law authorities in order to avoid an arrest or prosecution, or to avoid some other unwanted situation.

fugitive

A person who flees or escapes and travels secretly from place to place, and sometimes using disguises and aliases to conceal their identity, as to avoid law authorities in order to avoid an arrest or prosecution, or to avoid some other unwanted situation.

fugue

(music) A contrapuntal piece of music wherein a particular melody is played in a number of voices, each voice introduced in turn by playing the melody.

fuguer

(intransitive, dated) To run away from home (for any reason).

fugueur

A person or animal that runs away or has run away; a person, animal, or organization that escapes captivity or restrictions.

Führer

(historical, Nazism, definite) Adolf Hitler when he was the chancellor of Nazi Germany.

fuir

(transitive) To keep away from; to keep clear of; to stay away from.

fuite

The act of fleeing.

fulgurance

A sudden display of brilliance; a flashing of light; a sparkle.

fulgurant

Quick and light in movement or action.

fuligineux

Pertaining to or resembling soot in such features as colour, texture or taste; sooty, dusky. [from 16th c.]

fuligule à tête rouge

A North American duck (Aythya americana) highly esteemed as a game bird.

fuligule austral

A brown diving duck, Aythya australis, native to Australia.

fulminate

(chemistry) Any salt or ester of fulminic acid, mostly explosive.

fulminer

(figurative) To rage, to vent one's anger.

fumé

Of food, treated with smoke, often for flavor or as a method of preservation.

Fumée

The 44th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

fumeur

A person who smokes tobacco habitually.

fumeuse

A person who smokes tobacco habitually.

fumier

(uncountable) Manure; animal excrement.

fumiste

A person (usually a man) who is stylish but habituated to hedonistic and immoral conduct.

fumoir

A structure used to smoke food to preserve it and to add flavor.

funèbre

Of or relating to a funeral.

funérailles

A ceremony to honor and remember a deceased person, often distinguished from a memorial service by the presence of the body of the deceased.

funeste

Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.

funk

(uncountable, music genre) A style of music derived from 1960s soul music, with elements of rock and other styles, characterized by a prominent bass guitar, dance-friendly sound, a strong emphasis on the downbeat, and much syncopation.

furet

An often domesticated mammal (Mustela putorius furo) rather like a weasel, descended from the polecat and often trained to hunt burrowing animals.

fureter

(by extension, ambitransitive) To uncover and bring to light by searching; usually to ferret out.

fureur

A strong and unpleasant feeling of displeasure, hostility, or antagonism towards someone or something, usually combined with an urge to yell, say curse words, and/or physically harm or cause damage or destruction to things or attack or assault living beings, often stemming from perceived provocation, hurt, threat, insults, or unfair or unjust treatment, or a situation not going the way one had desired or planned.

furibond

(formal, literary) Having a propensity to be furious; choleric, irate.

Furie

The third reindeer of Santa Claus.

furieusement

In a furious manner; angrily.

furieux

Displaying or feeling anger.

furlong

A unit of distance equal to one-eighth of a mile (220 yards, or 201.168 metres), now mainly used in measuring distances in farmland and horse racing.

furoncle

A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection.

furtif

Of a person or an animal: sly, stealthy.

furtivement

In a furtive manner.

furtivité

(uncountable) The attribute or characteristic of acting in secrecy, or in such a way that the actions are unnoticed or difficult to detect by others.

fusaïole

A flywheel, a weight attached to a spindle. [from c. 1460]

fuseau

(spinning) A rod used for spinning and then winding fibres (especially wool), usually consisting of a shaft and a circular whorl positioned at either the upper or lower end of the shaft when suspended vertically from the forming thread.

fusée

(heraldiccharge) A bearing of a rhomboidal figure, originally representing a spindle in shape, longer than a heraldic lozenge.

fusée d'artifice

A type of firework that uses a solid rocket engine to rise quickly into the sky where it emits a variety of effects such as stars, bangs, crackles, etc.

fusée lumineuse

A source of brightly burning light or intense heat.

fuselage

A covering on various parts of a vehicle, for example an aircraft, automobile, or motorcycle, that streamlines it (i.e., produces a smooth exterior and reduces drag). [from 20th c.]