méchant

French

Etymology

From the present participle of the Old French verb mescheoir, from *mé- + cheoir (choir). Compare also mauvais.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /me.ʃɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Adjective

méchant (feminine méchante, masculine plural méchants, feminine plural méchantes)

1. (dated or literary) bad, mediocre

   Synonym: mauvais

   à méchant ouvrier, point de bon outil ― a bad workman always blames his tools

   être de méchante humeur ― to be in a bad mood

2. mean, unkind

   Antonym: gentil

   Hypernym: mauvais

Derived terms

• méchamment
• chemin méchant

Noun

méchant m (plural méchants, feminine méchante)

1. jerk (cruel person)
2. (fiction) baddie, bad guy, villain

   Antonym: gentil

   les méchants et les gentils ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Derived terms

• méchanceté

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• mâchent