French · France · Belgium · Switzerland · Canada

merde

/mɛʁd/

Listen to how locals say it.

This entry covers merde, an expression in French as used in France · Belgium · Switzerland · Canada.

Machine translation Some text on this page is machine-translated and has not been reviewed yet.

Contents

Meaning

Shit — both the substance and the standard French exclamation of frustration.^[1]^[2]Machine-assisted translation

Pronunciation

IPA: /mɛʁd/

“maird” — uvular French r.^[1]^[2]

Intensity

SWEAR LEVEL

Rated in-culture by native reviewers, on three separate axes.

VulgarityStrong

Assessed as how taboo the word itself is inside its own culture.

AggressivenessRude

Assessed at the most aggressive natural use aimed at a person.

Social riskRude

Assessed as what the speaker risks when saying it to a stranger on the street.

How common

Social Risk

Assessed social risk by setting.

With friendsLow risk
At schoolContext-dependentA teacher is likely to pull the speaker up on it.
At workContext-dependentCommon between colleagues, avoided in front of clients.
On the streetLow risk
OnlineLow risk

Low risk
Context-dependent
Best avoided

Shape and colour encode the same value.

Verification

Content review: Not verified yet
Translation: Machine-translated, review pending
Sources last checked: 2026-08-28

Not verified yetWaiting for native review

Published after an automated pre-check. No native reviewer has confirmed it yet.

A correction desk opens once native review starts. Until then this page records what the sources say.

How it's used

Everyday and comparatively mild. In theatre it is a good-luck wish, the equivalent of “break a leg”.^[1]^[2]Machine-assisted translation

Cultural context

Wiktionary tags the interjection as vulgar and separately records the theatre sense “break a leg”.^[1]^[2]Machine-assisted translation

Literal meaning

feces^[1]^[2]

When to avoid it

Situations in which the expression is generally best avoided.

At school — Context-dependent. A teacher is likely to pull the speaker up on it.
At work — Context-dependent. Common between colleagues, avoided in front of clients.

Sources

Every claim on this page traces back to these entries.

↑Meaning ↑Pronunciation ↑How it's used ↑Cultural context ↑Literal meaning merde — English Wiktionary (French)Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · summarised and translated here · accessed 2026-08-28
↑Meaning ↑Pronunciation ↑How it's used ↑Cultural context ↑Literal meaning merde — Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary)Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · summarised and translated here · accessed 2026-08-28

Passages derived from these dictionary entries are redistributed under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.