rouge
/ʁuʒ/masculine
The English word "red" is rouge in French.
rouge is used to refer to the colour red as a noun. It is also used as an adjective meaning "having red as its colour" or to describe someone with left-wing, socialist or communist political leanings. Additionally, the idiom voir rouge means to see red or to get angry.
Meaning: colour (noun)
Which one should you use?
While rouge refers to the colour, it can also function as an adjective describing political left-wing or communist leanings.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
/ʁuʒ/
Did you know?
- Unlike in English where 'red-haired' is common, French often uses roux instead of rouge to describe a person with red hair.
- The expression être dans le rouge means to be overdrawn in a bank account, referring to the red ink accountants once used to mark deficits.
- The phrase un fil rouge literally means 'a red thread' and is used to describe the common theme or guiding logic that holds a story or project together.
Examples in context
- Le feu est rouge.The light is red.This sentence shows how to describe a light being rouge.Tatoeba #10188615 by felix63, translation #10188613 by CM
- Sa moto est rouge.His motorcycle is red.This sentence shows how to describe a motorcycle as being rouge.Tatoeba #7357264 by tras, translation #7357047 by sabretou
- Le chien est rouge.The dog is red.This sentence shows how to describe a dog as being rouge.Tatoeba #1169233 by Julien_PDC, translation #3354603 by LanguageExpert
- La robe est rouge.The dress is red
- Son rouge à lèvres est écarlate.Her lipstick is scarlet red
- Il portait une chemise rouge vif.He wore a bright red shirt
- Les fleurs étaient d'un écarlate flamboyant.The flowers were a flamboyant scarlet red
- Les murs étaient peints en rouge sang.The walls were painted blood red
- La voiture rougeThe red car
- Les voitures rougesThe red cars
- Elle rougit de gêne.She is turning red with embarrassment
- 660 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Nathan and Manon are looking at clothes in a shop.
- NathanTu aimes ce t-shirt rouge ?Do you like this red t-shirt?
- ManonNon, je préfère le bleu.No, I prefer the blue one.
- NathanLe bleu est très joli aussi.The blue one is very pretty too.
- ManonOui, allons voir le bleu.Yes, let's go look at the blue one.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “red” translations and entries rouge, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
