Foreign Adjectives

Foreign adjectives in French
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Adjectifs empruntés

French has borrowed or adapted a number of adjectives from other languages, and they are always invariable.

Par exemple…

une fête relax   a laid-back party
une pièce zen   a Zen room
des repas kascher   kosher meals
des meubles design   designer furniture

Foreign adjectives used in French

a cappella   a cappella  
a priori   a priori  
ad hoc   ad hoc  
afrikaans   Afrikans  
afro   Afro (hairstyle) (informal)
al dente   al dente  
amish   Amish  
antitrust   anti-trust  
audio   audio  
baby   baby  
beat   beatnik  
bêta   beta  
bling-bling   bling, bling-bling  
cantilever   cantilever  
cascher   kosher (in accordance with Judaic principles)
cash   frank, direct, up-front (informal)
Celsius   Celsius  
charter   charter  
cheap   cheap, poor quality  
clean   clean  
cool   cool  
cosy   cozy  
dance   related to dance music  
design   designer  
destroy   destroyed, trashed, wild  
express   espress, espresso  
Fahrenheit   Fahrenheit  
flashy   flashy, bright, colorful  
free-lance   freelance  
fun   fun  
funky   funk  
glamour   glamorous  
gold   gold, golden  
gore   gory  
gratis   free  
groggy   groggy  
grunge   grunge (music, style)
halal   halal (in accordance with Sharia principles)
hi-fi   hi-fi  
high-tech   high-tech  
hot   hot jazz  
hype   trendy, hip  
kascher   kosher (in accordance with Judaic principles)
kitsch   kitsch  
indoor   indoor  
inuit   Inuit  
jazzy   related to jazz  
kif-kif   same, identical  
kitch
kitsch
  kitsch  
lambda   averge, typical  
light   light, low calorie  
live   live  
marengo   Marengo  
offset   offset  
offshore   offshore  
out   out of touch, (tennis) out  
people
pipeule
pipole
  celebrity  
pop   pop (music, art)
prémium   premium, high quality  
pro forma   pro forma  
punk   punk  
record   record  
relax   relaxed, informal, laid back  
revolving   revolving  
schlass   drunk (informal)
scratch   scratch (race) (cycling)
select   select, high-class, posh  
sexy   sexy  
sioux   astute, wily (informal)
snob   snobby, snobbish  
soft   soft, cozy, watered-down  
solo   solo  
soul   soul (music)
sport   casual, athletic (clothes, shoes)
spot   spot (economics)
standard   standard  
stand-by   stand-by  
sterling   (pound) sterling  
tango   bright orange  
tip-top   perfect  
top   great, best  
trash   trashy, base, tasteless  
vaudou   voodoo  
vidéo   video  
waterproof   waterproof  
zen   Zen  

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Foreign adjectives used in French

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