épais
What does “épais” mean in English?
In Quebec, this term is used to insult someone by calling them stupid or dense. The literal translation refers to physical thickness, but here it implies a lack of intelligence.
Literally “thick”
It's a directed insult, similar to calling someone a 'thickhead' in English. It’s not overly harsh, but it gets the point across that you think someone is being particularly dense.
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Related French words
teubé
2/5 · CoarseThis is a slang insult meaning someone is stupid or an idiot. It's a playful twist on the word 'bête,' which means 'fool.'
beauf
2/5 · CoarseThis is an insult for someone seen as crude or narrow-minded. It literally means 'brother-in-law' but is used in a derogatory way.
cave
2/5 · CoarseIn Quebec French, 'cave' is an insult meaning idiot or fool. It has no connection to its literal sense of 'cellar.'
feignasse
2/5 · CoarseThis is an insult aimed at someone seen as extremely lazy. It literally translates to 'lazy person.'
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 Viddexa SafeText (MIT). Editorial content © Swear Atlas.