niaiseux
What does “niaiseux” mean in English?
This is a Quebecois insult used to call someone foolish or ridiculous. It’s not a heavy insult, more like playful teasing in some contexts.
It’s similar to calling someone a 'dumbass' in English and is typically aimed directly at someone. The tone can vary from light-hearted to mildly insulting.
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Related French words
bouffon
2/5 · CoarseIt's an insult for someone who's acting ridiculous or foolish, akin to calling them a clown. Literally, it means 'jester.'
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.
“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.