beauté
/bo.te/feminine
The French word for beauty is beauté.
beauté refers to the quality of a pleasing appearance. You can use the phrase la beauté à couper le souffle to describe someone or something that possesses breathtaking beauty. Additionally, the expression la beauté fatale is used to describe a person whose charm is irresistibly captivating and potentially dangerous.
Meaning: quality of pleasing appearance (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
beauté is a feminine noun, which means it is preceded by feminine articles such as la or une.
How do you pronounce it?
/bo.te/
Did you know?
- In French, the adjective beau for 'beautiful' changes to bel when it precedes a masculine noun starting with a vowel or a silent h, such as un bel homme.
- The expression la beauté à couper le souffle literally translates to 'beauty to cut the breath', reflecting a visceral physical reaction.
- The word beauté shares a common ancestor with the English word 'beauty', both tracing back to the Latin word bellus.
Examples in context
- La beauté se fane.Beauty fades.Tatoeba #10505489 by pkill, translation #4465579 by mervert1
- Sa beauté le charma.Her beauty cast a spell over him.Tatoeba #355299 by Barbiche0, translation #309671 by CK
- Je t'envie ta beauté.I envy you your beauty.Tatoeba #341294 by TRANG, translation #252870 by CM
- La beauté de ce paysage est stupéfiante.The beauty of this landscape is stunning.
- Waouh, t'es vraiment une bombe ce soir !Wow, you look like a bombshell tonight!
- 149 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
A man and a woman are standing in front of a famous painting in a museum.
- NathanLa beauté de ce tableau est incroyable.The beauty of this painting is incredible.
- LéaC'est vrai, Nathan, elle est saisissante.It's true, Nathan, it is striking.
- NathanLéa, tu trouves que les couleurs sont harmonieuses ?Léa, do you find the colors harmonious?
- LéaOui, l'artiste a un talent immense.Yes, the artist has immense talent.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “beauty” translations and entries beauté, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries beauté, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
