French Swear Words

French Swear Words

Learn how to say swear words in French: zut – petit con de merde… Enjoy some juicy common French swear words and their closest translation.

Unlike the foul language you hear on American movies, which boil down to endless repeating of the same four letter words, the French are much more sophisticated when it comes to throwing insults. After all, French is supposed to be a language of intellectuals which clearly shows in the abundance and variety of different curse words.

7 most popular French curse words

  • Merde: translates to ‘shit’ and is used whenever something is not going like the French would have loved it to be.
  • Zut: is slightly more polite than the previous merde.
  • Tête de con: ‘con’ or ‘connerie’ is a common word to label anybody or anybody stupid
  • Pute: means whore and ‘putain’ is an exclamation that’s pretty similar to ‘merde’
  • Salaud: if a guy scolded a girl with ‘pute’, she will most likely answer with ‘salaud’ meaning bastard!
  • Ta gueule: Shut up!, always practical to know when too many French insults are thrown at you
  • Casse-toi: is a bit stronger than ‘ta gueule’ and is used when you want your opponent to piss off

French swear words translation

  • Ane/cul : Ass
  • Baise toi : F… you
  • Bouffe ma queue : Eat my private parts
  • Connard : Crook
  • Debile: Stupid idiot
  • Désespéré : Hopeless
  • Fous le camps : Get lost
  • Je m’en fou: I can’t be bothered any longer
  • Je t’emmerde : Screw you, – one of the many ways to incorporate ‘merde’ when cursing
  • Le cerveau il était en option chez toi? : one of the ways of saying that a person has no brains – ‘cerveau’
  • Meurs : Die!
  • Va te faire enculer / foutre / mettre : Go and "4 letter word starting with F" yourself
  • Zut – Darn

French Canadian swear words

Any language is just a manifestation of the underlying culture of the people speaking it. Although the people from Quebec and Paris both speak French, their swear words tell a different story. French is a romantic language so the swear words tend to reach more towards the genital areas…

In the above curse words, you didn’t see the word "God" nor "Christ" since France evolved to be less stressing on religion compared to their American counterparts. American expressions like "Oh my God" can also be heard in Canadian French cursing:

  • Câlice! : Communion
  • Crisse! : Christ!
  • Mon Dieu : My God
  • Nom de Dieu : In the name of God
  • Tabernak : Church.

Of course all the words in the Canadian language list above don’t translate to their literal translations when people are using them in foul language!

Before you embark on a journey in using French swear words, remember how to say excuse me in French:

  • Désolé!
  • Excusez-moi!