poudre
/pudʁ/masculine
The French word for powder is poudre.
poudre refers to fine particles of any dry substance. You will see it used in various specific contexts, such as poudre à canon for gunpowder, poudre à lever for baking powder, poudre de cacao for cocoa powder and poudre magique for magic powder. In a more figurative or idiomatic sense, poudre de perlimpinpin refers to a quack remedy or a fraudulent treatment. Additionally, the colloquial term la poudreuse is used specifically to refer to fresh, light powder snow in a skiing context.
Meaning: fine particles of any dry substance (noun)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
poudre is a feminine noun. If you want to describe the process of being reduced to powder, you can use the verbs se réduire en poudre or se pulvériser. To describe the act of reducing something to fine particles, use réduire en poudre or pulvériser.
How do you pronounce it?
/pudʁ/
Did you know?
- The expression jeter de la poudre aux yeux means to mislead someone by creating a false impression. It literally translates to 'throwing powder in the eyes'.
- The phrase poudre de perlimpinpin describes a fake medicine or a scam. The word 'perlimpinpin' is a nonsensical word designed to sound impressive but mean nothing.
- The word poudre shares an ancient root with the English word 'flour', as both stem from the Proto-Indo-European root *pel-.
Examples in context
- Le ciment est une poudre grise.Cement is a grey powder.This sentence describes the color of cement as a powder.Tatoeba #11155953 by GuillaumeR, translation #11669915 by tieguy
- On s'est éclatés dans la poudreuse.We had a blast in the powder snow.This sentence uses poudre in the context of powder snow.Tatoeba #2155051 by sacredceltic, translation #11901528 by zogwarg
- Je vais juste aller me poudrer le nez.I'm just going to go powder my nose.This sentence uses the verb form of poudre regarding the idiom of powdering one's nose.Tatoeba #2221460 by sacredceltic, translation #2221140 by Hybrid
- Excusez-moi, où puis-je trouver de la poudre pour le visage?Excuse me, where can I find face powder?
- Le gâteau est recouvert de sucre en poudre, c'est délicieux !The cake is covered in powdered sugar, it's delicious!
- 7 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas and Léa are cleaning a messy workshop.
- LucasIl y a de la poudre partout ici.There is powder everywhere in here.
- LéaC'est une poudre très fine.It is a very fine powder.
- LucasLéa, apporte un chiffon pour nettoyer.Léa, bring a cloth to clean up.
- LéaD'accord, je m'en occupe.Okay, I'll take care of it.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “powder” translations and entries poudre, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries poudre, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
