blême

See also: blème

French

Etymology

Deverbal from blêmir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɛm/, /blɛːm/
• Hyphenation: blême
• Rhymes: -ɛm
• Homophones: bleime, bleimes, blêmes (general), blème, blèmes (short vowel only)

Adjective

blême (plural blêmes)

1. pale, wan
   • 1980, “Dans Mon H.L.M.”, in Marche à l'ombre, performed by Renaud:

     Putain, c’ qu’il est blême, mon HLM ! / Et la môme du huitième, le hasch, elle l’aime !

     Fuck, my block of flats is drab! / And the girl on the eighth floor, she likes hash!

     [These lines play on the homophony of HLM (“block of social housing”) and le hash, elle l’aime (“she likes hash”).]

Further reading

• “blême”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.