 |
|
| Share / Tweet / Pin Me! | |
Familiar French Expression
| Meaning | to be frustrated, angry, or disgusted | |
| Literally | to have the poison | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[ah vwar leu seum] |
| IPA | [a vwaʁ lə sœm] | |
Usage notes: Avoir le seum is a very common, familiar phrase for expressing extreme frustration, anger, or disgust with a situation.
Par exemple…
| J’ai le seum parce que j’ai perdu mon boulot. | I’m mad because I lost my job. | |
| Il a raté le bus, il doit avoir le seum. | He missed the bus, he must be frustrated. | |
| Fréde m’a largué la veille de mon anniversaire, le seum ! | Fréde dumped me right before my birthday, what a bummer! |
Seum comes from the Arabic word سم, pronounced [sɛm], literally “poison,” but borrowed into French to mean anger, frustration, or disgust. While it can be used as a stand-alone noun, it’s most often found in the expression avoir le seum.
Synonymous expressions
- avoir la haine
- avoir les boules
- être dégoûté
- être en colère
- être énervé (verlan: être vénère)
Related lessons
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!
This free website is created with love and a great deal of work. If you love it, please consider making a 
Fear of speaking, glossophobia, is one of the most common phobias – even just in one’s native language. If you feel nervous when speaking French, it’s probably due to a lack of confidence in your skills. The obvious solution is to improve your French, but there are also other ways to increase your confidence and feel more comfortable speaking French.
Learn how to translate French infinitives, imperatives, and participles into English.