puer
/pɥe/
To stink in French is to say puer. Wiktionary also lists empester.
Meaning: have a strong bad smell (verb)
Ways to say it
| French | IPA |
|---|---|
| puer | /pɥe/ /py.e/ |
| empester | /ɑ̃.pɛs.te/ |
The verb is used to express that something has a strong bad smell. You can say ça pue as a blunt, colloquial way to say "it stinks," or use the idiom ça pue l'égout to express that a smell is particularly foul or nauseating, meaning "it smells like a sewer."
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Québec French, the expression puer du bec means "to stink from the mouth."
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
puer is an intransitive verb and does not take a direct object. You do not "stink something" in French, you simply "stink".
How do you pronounce it?
/pɥe/
Did you know?
- The verb empester shares its root with the word 'plague', as it is derived from the word for 'pest' or 'plague'.
- The Latin root of puer originally related to the idea of 'cleaning' or 'purifying' in a different sense, which is a complete reversal of its modern meaning.
- While puer describes a bad smell, in certain contexts, it can also be used metaphorically to mean 'to be suspicious' or 'to look bad', much like the English 'that smells fishy'.
Examples in context
- Les poubelles commencent à puer.The trash cans are starting to stink.
- Cette cuisine dégage une mauvaise odeur.This kitchen gives off a bad smell.
- Ça schlingue ici!It stinks in here!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “stink” translations and entries puer, empester, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries empester, puer, CC BY-SA 4.0.
