French Swear Words: 30 Real Curse Words (France & Québec)
🇫🇷 French · 30 cards · B2 · by Théo Marchand
I swore in Lyon for twenty years and then had to relearn the whole thing in Montréal, so this deck covers both. It starts with the French staples — merde, putain, con, faire chier — moves on to the real insults, and ends with the Québec sacres (tabarnak, câlisse, crisse, hostie), which come from church vocabulary and behave like nouns, adverbs and verbs all at once.
Each note gives a strength rating from 1 to 5, the gender of the noun, and where the word actually lands. Read the rating before you repeat anything: putain barely registers in France, while enculé or nique ta mère is how a fight starts.
Flip through the cards, then switch to Quiz. Tap the play button on any row to hear it. The full table below is there to read, print or copy into your own flashcard app.
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All 30 cards
| # | French | English | Example | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | merde Strength 2-3/5. Noun (f.). The universal one, used in France and Québec. "Un truc de merde" = a crappy thing; "être dans la merde" = to be in deep trouble. | shit, damn | Merde, j'ai encore oublié mon parapluie. Shit, I forgot my umbrella again. | |
| 2 | putain Strength 3/5. Literally "whore" (f.), but as an interjection it's a reflex in France, heard constantly. Rare in Québec, where it marks you as French-from-France. Softened: "purée", "punaise". | damn!, fuck! (interjection); whore | Putain, il fait froid ce matin ! Damn, it's cold this morning! | |
| 3 | bordel Strength 2-3/5. Noun (m.), literally "brothel". "Mettre le bordel" = to cause chaos. Very common in France, understood in Québec but used less. | mess, chaos; damn it | C'est quoi ce bordel dans la cuisine ? What the hell is this mess in the kitchen? | |
| 4 | con Strength 2-3/5. Noun/adj. (m.), feminine "conne". Originally a vulgar word for the vagina, now just "idiot" in France. In Québec people say "épais" or "cave" instead. | idiot, dumbass | Arrête de faire le con, on nous regarde. Stop acting like an idiot, people are watching. | |
| 5 | connard Strength 3-4/5. Noun (m.), feminine "connasse". The standard road-rage insult in France. | asshole, jerk | Ce connard m'a coupé la route. That asshole cut me off. | |
| 6 | zut Strength 1/5. Completely safe substitute, fine in front of kids or your boss. Slightly old-fashioned but still used. | darn, shoot | Zut, j'ai raté le bus. Darn, I missed the bus. | |
| 7 | faire chier Strength 3/5. From "chier" (to shit). Also "ça me fait chier" = that really annoys me. Used on both sides of the Atlantic. | to piss off, to annoy | Tu commences à me faire chier. You're starting to piss me off. | |
| 8 | chiant Strength 2-3/5. Adjective, feminine "chiante". Of people it means annoying, of things deadly dull. | annoying; boring as hell | Le film était long et chiant. The movie was long and boring as hell. | |
| 9 | ta gueule Strength 3-4/5. Short for "ferme ta gueule"; "gueule" (f.) is an animal's mouth, hence the rudeness. Aggressive between strangers, joking between friends. | shut up, shut your mouth | Oh, ta gueule, j'essaie de dormir. Oh, shut up, I'm trying to sleep. | |
| 10 | salaud Strength 3-4/5. Noun (m.), used about men. The feminine "salope" is far more insulting than the masculine — the two are not symmetrical. | bastard, swine | Quel salaud, il ne m'a même pas prévenu. What a bastard, he didn't even warn me. | |
| 11 | salope Strength 4/5. Noun (f.), misogynistic and genuinely hurtful. Some close friends use it jokingly; assume yours don't. | bitch, slut | Ne la traite pas de salope. Don't call her a bitch. | |
| 12 | s'en foutre Strength 2-3/5. "Je m'en fiche" is the clean version. Québec equivalent: "je m'en câlisse" (much stronger). | to not give a damn | Je m'en fous complètement, fais ce que tu veux. I don't give a damn, do what you want. | |
| 13 | va te faire foutre Strength 5/5. A real insult, not banter. Truncated as "va te faire", or escalated to "va te faire enculer". | fuck off, go to hell | Va te faire foutre, je m'en vais. Fuck off, I'm leaving. | |
| 14 | enfoiré Strength 3-4/5. Noun (m.), feminine "enfoirée". Very France. Suggests someone sly and dishonest rather than merely stupid. | bastard, scumbag | Cet enfoiré a menti à tout le monde. That scumbag lied to everyone. | |
| 15 | trou du cul Strength 3-4/5. Noun (m.), literally "hole of the ass". In Québec you hear "trou de cul", without the article. | asshole | Il s'est comporté comme un trou du cul. He behaved like an asshole. | |
| 16 | cul Strength 2/5. Noun (m.). Vulgar but everyday. "Avoir du cul" (France) = to be lucky; "film de cul" = porn film. | ass, butt | Bouge ton cul, on est en retard ! Move your ass, we're late! | |
| 17 | couilles Strength 3/5. Noun (f. pl.). "Casser les couilles à quelqu'un" = to bug someone endlessly; "avoir des couilles" = to have guts. | balls, testicles | Il n'a pas eu les couilles de refuser. He didn't have the balls to say no. | |
| 18 | bite Strength 4/5. Noun (f.), despite the meaning. Québec prefers "graine" or plain "pénis"; "bite" is understood there but sounds French-from-France. | dick, cock | Quelqu'un a dessiné une bite sur le tableau. Someone drew a dick on the board. | |
| 19 | chatte Strength 4/5 in the anatomical sense. Noun (f.), literally "female cat". "Avoir de la chatte" = to be lucky: France only, and still crude. | pussy (vulgar); luck (France slang) | T'as vraiment de la chatte d'avoir gagné. You're damn lucky you won. | |
| 20 | pute Strength 4-5/5. Noun (f.). Mostly heard inside the insult "fils de pute". Don't use it about a person. | whore, hooker | Il m'a traité de fils de pute. He called me a son of a bitch. | |
| 21 | niquer Strength 4/5. From Arabic, now fully French slang. "C'est niqué" = it's busted. France far more than Québec. | to fuck; to screw over, to break | Je me suis fait niquer par le garagiste. I got screwed over by the mechanic. | |
| 22 | nique ta mère Strength 5/5. France, extremely aggressive; abbreviated "NTM". This is a pick-a-fight phrase, not slang to try out. | fuck your mother, fuck you | Il lui a crié « nique ta mère » en pleine rue. He screamed "fuck your mother" at him in the middle of the street. | |
| 23 | enculé Strength 5/5. Noun (m.), literally "buggered", so it carries a homophobic edge too. One of the harshest common insults in France. | motherfucker, fucker | Cet enculé m'a volé mon vélo. That fucker stole my bike. | |
| 24 | bâtard Strength 3-4/5. Noun (m.). Note the pattern "espèce de + insult" = "you + insult". In Québec it also works as an exclamation: "bâtard que c'est cher !" | bastard | Espèce de bâtard, rends-moi mon argent ! You bastard, give me my money back! | |
| 25 | niaiseux Strength 1-2/5. Québec only, very common and fairly mild; feminine "niaiseuse". Related: "niaiser" = to mess around, to pull someone's leg. | stupid, dumb; a fool | Son plan est vraiment niaiseux. His plan is really dumb. | |
| 26 | tabarnak Strength 5/5. Québec sacre, from "tabernacle"; also written "tabarnac". The strongest of them; softened as "tabarnouche", "tabarouette". | fuck, goddamn | Tabarnak, ça fait mal ! Fuck, that hurts! | |
| 27 | câlisse Strength 4/5. Québec sacre, from "calice" (chalice). Verb use: "je m'en câlisse" = I don't give a fuck; "câlisse ton camp" = get lost. Softened: "câline". | fuck, damn | Câlisse, il neige encore. Damn, it's snowing again. | |
| 28 | crisse Strength 4/5. Québec sacre, from "Christ". "Être en crisse" = to be furious; "un crisse de bon film" = a damn good movie. Softened: "cristie", "crime". | damn, Christ | Je suis en crisse contre lui. I'm pissed off at him. | |
| 29 | hostie Strength 4/5. Québec sacre, from the communion host; pronounced and often written "osti", "esti", "asti". Intensifier: "un hostie de bon repas". | damn, goddamn | Hostie que t'es lent ! Damn, you're slow! | |
| 30 | maudit Strength 1-2/5. Québec, mild and everyday; feminine "maudite". "Maudite marde !" is the classic softer outburst. | damn, damned | Maudit que c'est cher ! Damn, that's expensive! |
Born in Lyon, living in Montréal. I write the phrases the way people actually say them on both sides of the Atlantic and mark the difference when it matters.
Questions about this deck
- What is the most common French swear word?
- In France it's "putain", used dozens of times a day as a pure interjection, followed by "merde" and "con". In Québec the everyday ones are the religious sacres: "tabarnak", "câlisse", "crisse" and "hostie", with "maudit" as the mild option. "Merde" is the only one that sounds natural on both sides of the Atlantic.
- Why are Québec swear words religious?
- They come from Catholic liturgical vocabulary (tabernacle, calice, hostie, ciboire, Christ), from a time when the Church ran daily life in Québec, so insulting its objects was the worst thing you could say. Sacres are still stronger there than anatomical words, and each has a softened form: tabarnouche, câline, crime, mosus.
- Is "putain" as strong as the English f-word?
- No. It literally means "whore", but as an exclamation it sits closer to "damn" or "bloody hell" and is tolerated among adults in France, including at work. The genuinely f-word-strength items in this deck are "va te faire foutre", "enculé", "nique ta mère" and "tabarnak".
- Can you combine French swear words?
- Yes, and each region does it its own way. In France you stack with "de": "putain de merde", "putain de bordel de merde". In Québec you chain sacres the same way — "hostie de câlisse de tabarnak" — or use one as an intensifier before an adjective: "un crisse de bon repas".
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