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Informal French Expression
Meaning | to be very hungry | |
Literally | to have a wolf’s hunger | |
Register | informal | |
Pronunciation | ![]() |
[ah vwah roon feh(n) deu loo] |
IPA | [a vwa ryn fɛ̃ də lu] |
Usage notes: English speakers talk about being hungry enough to eat a big animal, such as a horse or bear,* while French speakers talk about being hungry like a big animal: avoir une faim de loup.
Par exemple…
J’espère que le dîner est prêt, j’ai une faim de loup ! | I hope dinner is ready, I could eat a horse! |
Both languages have many other expressions related to great hunger.
French synonyms
- avoir l’estomac / le ventre creux – literally: "to have an empty stomach"
- avoir l’estomac dans les talons – "to have the stomach in the heels"
- avoir une de ces faims – "to have one of those hungers"
- être affamé – "to be famished"
- mourir de faim (je meurs de faim) – "to be dying of hunger (I’m dying of hunger)"
informal - avoir la dalle – "to have the throat"
- avoir la fringale – "to have raging hunger"
familiar - avoir les crocs – "to have the fangs"
- claquer du bec – "to click at the mouth"
- crever de faim – "to be dying from hunger"
- crever la dalle – "to be dying (at) the throat"
- crever la faim – "to be dying (of) hunger"
English equivalents
- to be able to eat a bear (I could eat a bear!)
- to be able to eat a horse
- to be (absolutely) famished
- to be ravenous
- to be ravenously hungry
- to be starving, starved
* "Hungry like a wolf," as in the Duran Duran song, refers to a different kind of hunger. But English features "wolf" in some other expressions related to eating:
A growing youth has a wolf in his belly | (proverb) | Un jeune homme en pleine croissance a un loup au ventre. | |
to keep the wolf from the door (to have enough money to eat and survive) | mettre qqun au moins à l’abri du besoin | ||
to wolf down (to eat very quickly) | engloutir |
Related lessons
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