20+ French insults ranked by their probability to start a fight

You ended up in some kind of fight, with a friend or a stranger, online or face to face. And you ran out of swear words. That’s why you’re here, right?

You’ll wish you had read this before insulting with a French person. We’ll make you offend us: tug on our beret, penetrate our mime box, cut a piece of cheese improperly, or take the ultimate risk and don’t look us in the eye while raising a glass, bordel de merde!

2025 update with even more swearing!

The time has come.

“Putain”, “merde”, “connard”, “couillon”, “con” and “salaud”… those basic French insults aren’t good enough for you anymore. Or maybe you just want to spice it up with your French speaking friends.

We’re not judging. If anything, we’ll make it easier for you; that’s French hospitality for you.

Gymglish is happy to showcase some swear words & insults that would likely bring dishonor upon your house, which is annoying, but you’re your own person. Use at your own risk, you might be starting a fight. You’d be on your own because the “gym” in “Gymglish” isn’t for self-defense lessons, we offer language lessons.

Andouille

A French expert like yourself is probably aware that andouille is actually a famed, stinky pork sausage the French go crazy for, but the word is also an old-fashioned insult, roughly translated to “dummy”. Use this term to describe someone stupid or just plain lazy. While it is slightly outdated, andouille is a pretty effective rude word to use, and also kid-friendly for when you’re insulting the intelligence of your toddler.

Note: you can also use it to criticize someone’s behavior “tu fais l’andouille”, literally “you’re acting like a fool”. You silly sausage. No wonder French takes so long to learn.

Example: “Espèce d’andouille, tu as ramené des roulés aux saucisses à la soirée Vegan de Laura, t’es fou ou quoi ?”

Translation: “You dummy, you brought sausage rolls for Laura’s vegan dinner, what are you crazy?”

Tabarnak / Tabernacle

Warning: may confuse or amuse the French.

We travel to the Great White North for this second insult. The Canadian curse using tabarnak; it’s a phonetic rendition of the term “tabernacle”, which refers to the ornamented box in which Communion hosts and wine are kept. In Quebec, it has become a very popular swear word used to express anger, annoyance or surprise. This foul term has the approximate weight of “holy shit” or “holy fuck” in English.

Example: “Nous ne sommes pas partis en vacances depuis plus d’un an, tabarnak !“

Translation: “We haven’t gone on holiday for more than a year, holy shit!”

If you need more original Canadian French insults for your own culture or for your next journey in Quebec, we’ve prepared a list of these for you, tabarnak.

Va te faire cuire un oeuf

“Go cook yourself an egg!” – yes, but what could it mean? We love our food in France, but that’s not an invitation to dinner, far from that. You are being told to go away in a polite-ish way.

Example: “Comment ça mes chaussures sont moches ? Va te faire cuire un oeuf !“

Translation: “What do you mean my shoes are ugly? Get out of here!”

Variants: “Va te faire cuire le cul” / “Va te faire foutre” (see below)

Glandu

Sometimes, even the most common French phrases won’t be good enough to express your anger. If someone calls you a glandu, it’s an insult to be worn with pride and another dangerously useful insult to add to your lexicon and quite possibly your French idiom list. This slang word makes reference to an uneducated, stupid person who doesn’t do much.

Cultural note: Glandu is also the name of a famous radio presenter on NRJ. Personally, I won’t be listening, but if you’re caller number 5 you could win something crazy. Call now, standard phone rates apply.

Beauf

The word beauf – a great example of an untranslatable French word – has two distinct meanings. One is an affectionate abbreviation of beau-frère meaning your brother-in-law, whilst the other is a French slang term that describes a vulgar or unsophisticated person.  An English equivalent might be “a hick”, “a rube” or a “yokel”.

This swear word is thought to have originated in the 1970s when a beauf referred to a French person lacking culture. This insult was and is, of course, often employed by condescending Parisians to generalize about non-Parisians. Hey, ici c’est Paris.

Example: “Jean-Pierre est un vrai beauf. Il joue à la pétanque, écoute du Johnny Hallyday et boit du pastis du matin au soir.”

Translation: “Jean-Pierre is a real yokel. He plays pétanque, listens to Johnny Hallyday and drinks pastis from dawn till dusk.”

Plouc

Beyond beauf, when someone is a real hillbilly, or what we’d call a redneck, in French, they’d be ploucs. It’s not a very nice word (much like the rest of our list, to be fair) since it’s used to describe someone who’s a country bumpkin to an extreme, lacking sophistication, mannerism and/or common sense.

Example: “Ce plouc de Martin a chié dans la baignoire, il connaît pas les toilettes ou quoi ?”

Translation: “That redneck Martin took a shit in the bathtub. Does he not know about toilets?”

Naze

“T’es vraiment un naze”. A charming and timeless French insult, ideal for beginners. Naze can be used to describe situations or people that appear to be idiotic, dumb or lame.

There are far ruder words than naze, but do bear in mind that the word is said to be the shortened version of the word “nazi” (or “nasi”) which made reference to those suffering from syphilis in the 19th century. That’s… not great.

Example: “Anna devait acheter un pack de bières pour la soirée mais a pris du vin blanc à la place, quelle naze !”.

Translation: “Anna was supposed to buy beers for the party but bought white wine instead. What a loser!”

Chiant(e)

Slightly scatological in nature, this adjective is a mainstay in casual conversations. Figuratively translated as “annoying” or “boring”, this insult literally describes something that is a pain in the ass, or in other words “shitty”. Pardon our French. Or should we say our French grammar.

This word can refer to a sub-optimal person or situation and is decidedly pejorative. If you want to express displeasure, you could also use the word relou – the inverted slang (verlan) of lourd (heavy, awkward) common among French youngsters – which is basically the same thing, but carries a little bit of extra oomph. 

Example: “Les grèves RATP durent depuis des semaines, c’est vraiment chiant.”

Translation: “The train strikes in Paris have been going on for weeks, it’s a real pain in the ass.”

Branleur / Branleuse

Learning how to curse in French will open doors. What kind of doors they open is a different question. Still, best you have the tools to get to the places you want to go, you naughty Francophile. The French term branleur (along with the feminine form branleuse) comes from the French verb branler which means “to masturbate”.

The noun translates as “wanker,” and generally refers to somebody lazy. An English equivalent might be “lazy sod” (UK) or “lazy bastard”.

Example: “Jean se lève à midi tous les jours, prend son petit déjeuner et enchaîne les épisodes de ‘L’amour est dans le pré’ au lieu de chercher du travail. C’est vraiment un branleur !“

Translation: “Jean gets up at noon, has breakfast and watches back-to-back episodes of L’amour est dans le pré instead of looking for a job. What a lazy sod!”

Blaireau

Objectively the best French swear word and one of the many reasons to learn French a blaireau is literally a “badger”. Used colloquially, it’s an insult expressing that someone is a jerk, a moron and an imbecile at the same time. Funnily enough, the word describes an old-fashioned shaving brush. While we are fond of badgers at Gymglish, and find them to be excellent dinner guests, we’d advise you to avoid this sticky wicket unless you’re directly addressing a family of badgers.

Example: “David c’est un vrai blaireau, il a encore oublié d’apporter son CV pour son entretien d’embauche.”

Translation: “David is a real moron, he forgot yet again to bring his CV to his job interview.”

Casse-toi

Don’t go breaking yourself when someone says “casse-toi“, they mean they want you out of their sight. It can be translated into “go away”, but certainly more accurately “fuck off”, or even “get the fuck out”. At school, this could trigger a fight.

Interestingly, casse-toi can also be used in the same ways as its English counterpart:

• Casse-toi de là !
  Fuck out of here!
• 50€ pour cette merde ? Non mais casse-toi.
  50€ for this crap? Fuck off.

Did you know? You can use it for yourself to say you’re leaving in a very familiar way:

• Mince, il est 18h00 ! Il faut que je me casse !
  Dang, it’s 6:00PM! I need to go!
• On se casse, on a un rencard ce soir.
  We’re leaving, we have a date tonight.

Pro tip: You can use it in a group thanks to cassez-vous. Isn’t French wonderful?

Variants from less offensive to most offensive: “dégage !“, “barre-toi !“, “va te faire foutre”

Ta gueule

While most of us go to great lengths to remain polite even, there will be some instances when one needs to blow off some steam. Slipping in a casual “ta gueule” will undoubtedly add fuel to the flames. The French verbal attack “ta gueule” is the shortened form of ferme ta gueule and translates as “shut up” or “shut the fuck up” if you’re well and truly pissed off.

The term gueule translates as “muzzle “or “maw” (as in an animal’s mouth) and is a pejorative way of referring to someone’s mouth or face (much like the English “trap” or “gob”) You can see just how quickly this interjection can escalate matters.

Did you know? Contrary to other slurs from this list, ta gueule can also be used humorously and/or sarcastically, but will require some tact.

Variants: “ferme-la” or “la ferme !” are slightly less offensive, but offensive nonetheless.

Example:

“Olala, le PSG a perdu 3 contre 1 contre l’OM hier soir !“
– Ta gueule !

Translation:   

“Damn, PSG lost 3-1 against OM last night!”
– Shut up!

Sac à merde

If this list has taught us anything, it’s that the French are fairly poop-obsessed. Sac a merde translates as “bag of shit” or “poo bag” and describes a worthless or stupid thing or person. 

Culture Tip: This curse word is featured in the 1995 French film Les Trois Frères in which Bernard Campan asks “Sac à merde, c’est une insulte ?” (“Is “bag of shit” an insult?”).

Note: If you find this insult has crossed some sort of line or boundary, you can use tête de noeud (a slightly less vulgar version of “dickhead”) which more or less carries the same meaning.

Example:

“Non je ne raccompagnerai pas ta mère chez elle, j’ai la flemme. Elle n’a qu’à prendre le bus.“
– T’es vraiment qu’un sac à merde, tu le sais ?

Translation:

“No, I won’t take your mother back home, I can’t be bothered. She can take the bus.”
– You truly are a piece of shit, do you know that?

Couille-molle

More colored words for you. Couille molle literally means “soft testicle”, implying someone doesn’t have the courage, the guts, or the balls to do something. Interestingly, the closest translation in English is “pussy”.

Example: “Comment ça t’as jamais séché une classe ? T’es qu’une couille-molle !”

Translation: “What do you mean, you’ve never skipped class? You pussy!”

Trou de balle / trou du cul

How to insult a French person in style? Trou de balle is one option. This gros mot colorfully makes reference to somebody being a perfect asshole, as the French terms balle and cul both describe the anus or rectum.

There’s no doubt about – this term carries an extra oomph that is hard to convey in another language. A word of caution: overusing this curse word may make heads turn.

Did you know? The French expression le trou du cul du monde translates as “bumfuck” as in “the middle of nowhere”.

Example: “Tu es vraiment un trou de balle quand tu dis des choses pareilles !“

Translation: “You can be a real asshole when you say things like that.”

Va te faire foutre

Consider your most hated coworker. It feels like they deserve a powerful insult, one that will make them regret ever getting on your bad side. Might we suggest a well-timed “va te faire foutre”?

This 19th-century insult should not be taken lightly. An English equivalent of this insult might be “go fuck yourself” or “up yours”.

Pro Tip: Other variants of the insult include va te faire voir (if you want to sound a bit less rude) or va te faire enculer (if you want to sound ruder).

Example:

“Thierry a quitté la soirée sans dire au revoir aux hôtes, tu te rends compte ?“
– Qu’il aille se faire foutre !

Translation:

“Thierry left the party without saying goodbye to the hosts, can you believe it?”
– He can go fuck himself!

Enculé

Well, now you’re starting a fight for real: it’s very offensive.

This has become a rather controversial insult, due to its meaning — there is no equivalent in English. It literally means one who’s been fucked in the rear, in a literal sense.

It shares its root with the verb “enculer”, which literally means to fuck someone in their rear, but has lost a lot of its literal sense, thankfully.

Usually translated as “bastard”, “fucker”, or “motherfucker”, you can also hear it at most football/soccer matches if you go to the Parc des Princes or the Stade Olympique, or wherever PSG and OM plays.

Perhaps are they cursing affectionately? We will never know.

Pro Tip: Variants include:

• enculé de ta mère (perhaps closer to “motherfucker”)
• enculé de ta race (famously used in the parody movie La Classe Américaine)
• putain d’enculé

Example:

Annonceur : “Et le numéro 10… Zlatan Ibrahimovic !”
Public du stade, en choeur : “Enculééééééééééééééééééééééé !”

Translation:

Announcer: “Number 10… Zlatan Ibrahimovic!”
Stadium audience in chorus: “Motherfuckeeeeeeeeeeeeer!”

Fils de pute

Fils de pute really rolls off the tongue, but you should probably not be using it at all.

A pute is rather a bad word and means either “prostitute” or “slut”, or perhaps more accurately, a “bitch” in this context.

We’ll let you put two and two together and figure the translation of fils de pute.

Incidentally, much like in English, there doesn’t seem to be a female equivalent for this insult — no one ever says fille de pute, and it’s shortened to pute at best.

Example: “Ah, quel fils de pute celui-là !”

Translation: “What a son of a bitch!”

Nique ta mère !

There’s no going back, the fight will start as soon as the word mère leaves your mouth.

What could be worse than “son of a bitch”? That’s right.

Pro Tip #1: nique can be freely substituted with baise.

Pro Tip #2: just don’t use it… …but if you must, there are a few unoriginal variants:

• nique ton père (make it gender equal)
• nique ta grand-mère (make it generational)
• baise tes morts (make it… no, don’t make it)

Example #1: “Quoi ? Qu’est-ce que t’as dit sur ma mère ? Je vais baiser ta mère !”

Translation: “What? What did you say about my mother? I’m going to fuck your mother!”

Example #2: “Moi ? Je vais aller me faire foutre ? Et bah nique ta mère !”

Translation: “Me? Go fuck myself? Yeah, well, fuck your mom!”

What to substitute “con” with?

You’re so desperate to insult someone’s intelligence (or lack of), but “sale con” would be too much, and “crétin” or “imbécile” might sound a bit outdated. We got your back with more subtle swearing that’ll allow you to appear much more educated:

• avoir le QI d’une huître: lit. to have the IQ of an oyster
• être bête comme ses pieds: lit. to be stupid like feet
• ne pas être le couteau le plus aiguisé du tiroir: lit. to not be the sharpest knife in the drawer
• ne pas avoir la lumière à tous les étages: lit. to not have light on every floor
• ne pas être le pingouin qui glisse le plus loin: lit. to not be the penguin who slides the farthest

You’re almost ready for a rap battle!

Keep those French insults for yourself, share the love with Frantastique

Putain de merde that felt good! Cursing in French is an art in and of itself.

Dying to learn more about how to insult a French person? Please note that we don’t condone any form of violence, both physical and verbal: you are on your own now, so mind your cursing.

If you ever get into a fight, we won’t be of much help, but if you changed your mind and want to make friends in French instead, we’ve got you covered with Frantastique, fun and personalized online French courses.

Make friends, not start a fight with enculé de ta race with Frantastique.

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