bordel
What does “bordel” mean in English?
It’s used to express annoyance or frustration, and can also refer to a mess or chaotic situation. Literally, it means 'brothel.'
Literally “brothel”
Similar to saying 'what the hell' or 'damn it' in English, it's often used as an exclamation rather than a direct insult. It’s more common in casual speech and can be found in various French-speaking regions.
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Related French words
bordel de merde
4/5 · StrongThis is a strong expression of frustration or disbelief, akin to saying 'what the hell' or 'for fuck's sake'. While it literally translates to 'brothel of shit', it's not used in a literal sense.
c'est quoi ce bordel
3/5 · VulgarIt means 'what the hell is going on?' or 'what is this mess?'. The literal translation is 'what is this brothel?', but that’s not how it’s used in context.
foutoir
3/5 · VulgarIt refers to a complete mess or a chaotic place. Despite its origin, it’s usually not sexual in nature.
foutre le bordel
3/5 · VulgarIt means to create chaos or disorder. The literal translation is 'put the brothel', but that's not how it's used.
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About this data
Swear Atlas is a source-attested, AI-curated reference — not a native-speaker-certified dictionary. Meanings and the 1–5 Burn Rating are approximate editorial assessments that vary with context, region, tone and speaker. Inclusion of a word does not constitute endorsement of its use.
The literal gloss is a short editorial translation to show word-for-word sense, not an etymological claim.
“Sounds like” is an English-friendly approximation of how the word sounds, not an authoritative pronunciation. Where shown, the romanisation is a conventional Latin-script transliteration of the original spelling.
Term attested via LDNOOBW, 4troDev/profanity.csv, Viddexa SafeText (CC-BY-4.0, MIT). Editorial content © Swear Atlas.