What does poil in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word poil in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use poil in French.

The word poil in French means hair, hair, fur, coat, bristle, pile, bristle, the wrong way, naked, nude, furred, short-haired, short-haired, the wrong way, long-haired animal, short-haired animal, great, perfect, never do a stroke of work, rub up the right way, that gives me the jitters, that gives me the heebie-jeebies, that really bugs me, that really gets my back up, that really gets under my skin, stroke the wrong way, rub up the wrong way, rub up the right way, butter up to, of all kinds, be in a good mood, be in a bad mood, strip naked, strip naked, wire hair fox terrier, wire-haired fox terrier, wire fox terrier, smooth fox terrier, wirehaired pointing griffon, rub the wrong way, rub up the wrong way, be as bald as a coot, not change at all, be as bald as a coot, exactly, right, itching powder, thorn in the side for , thorn in the side of , thorn in 's side, bright ginger, carrot-top, ginger nut, Poil de Carotte, Poil de Carotte, ingrowing hair, perk up again, a tad. To learn more, please see the details below.

Listen to pronunciation

Meaning of the word poil

hair

nom masculin (d'une personne) (one or a few: countable)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
La sorcière avait un vilain poil qui ressortait de son bouton sur le nez. Mario a beaucoup de poils sur le torse et en est fier.
Mario has a lot of hair on his torso and is very proud of it.

hair

nom masculin (d'un animal) (animal)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Beurk, j'ai trouvé un poil de chat dans mon assiette ! Mon chien laisse ses poils partout dans la maison !
Blerg, I found a cat hair in my plate! My dog leaves hair all over the house!

fur, coat

nom masculin (animal : pelage) (animal)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Ce chat a le poil brillant.
This cat has a shiny coat.

bristle

nom masculin (d'une brosse, d'un pinceau,...)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Les poils de ma brosse à dents sont bien durs.
The bristles of my toothbrush are quite hard.

pile

nom masculin (d'un tapis) (carpet, uncountable)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
J'aime les tapis qui ont des poils longs.
I like carpets with long pile.

bristle

nom masculin (Botanique : d'une plante)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
La graine germée de laitue a des poils absorbants.
Sprouting lettuce seeds have absorbent bristles.

the wrong way

locution adverbiale (dans le sens contraire)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
L'enfant caresse le chat à contre-poil.
The child stroked the cat the wrong way

naked, nude

locution adjectivale (argot (nu)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Nicolas est sorti à poil de la salle de bains.
Nicholas left the bathroom naked.

furred

locution adjectivale (gibier : mammifère) (animal)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Ce chasseur tire le gibier à poil et à plume.
The hunter shoots furred and feathered wild game.

short-haired

locution adjectivale (chien : dont le poil est court)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")

short-haired

locution adjectivale (chien : dont le poil est très court)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")

the wrong way

locution adverbiale (à contre-poil)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Jean aime bien caresser son chien à rebrousse-poil.

long-haired animal

nom masculin (variété d'animal)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

short-haired animal

nom masculin (animal à poils courts)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

great, perfect

locution adverbiale (familier, figuré (parfait)

Ce restaurant est au poil.

never do a stroke of work

locution verbale (familier (être fainéant)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

rub up the right way

(figuré (flatter)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Butter him up before asking for a raise.

that gives me the jitters, that gives me the heebie-jeebies

(cela m'angoisse) (informal)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

that really bugs me, that really gets my back up, that really gets under my skin

(figuré (cela m'énerve) (slang, figurative)

stroke the wrong way

verbe transitif (un animal)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Arrête de caresser le chien à rebrousse-poil ; tu sais qu'il n'aime pas ça !

rub up the wrong way

verbe transitif (figuré (contre la nature [qqn]) (figurative)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
En le caressant à rebrousse-poil, il fallait s'attendre à ce qu'il se révolte.

rub up the right way, butter up to

locution verbale (figuré, familier (dire ce que l'autre veut entendre)

of all kinds

locution adjectivale (familier (très divers)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
J'ai rencontré des aventuriers de tout poil.

be in a good mood

locution verbale (familier (être de bonne humeur)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Je suis de bon poil ce matin, alors tu peux me demander tout ce que tu veux !

be in a bad mood

verbe intransitif (familier (être de mauvaise humeur)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Je suis toujours de mauvais poil le lundi matin.

strip naked

locution verbale (familier (déshabiller [qqn])

strip naked

(familier (se déshabiller)

wire hair fox terrier, wire-haired fox terrier, wire fox terrier

nom masculin (race de chien) (dog breed)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Mon frère possède un fox à poil dur.

smooth fox terrier

nom masculin (race de chien) (dog breed)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Mon père possède un fox à poil lisse.

wirehaired pointing griffon

nom masculin (race de chien de chasse)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

rub the wrong way, rub up the wrong way

(irriter, horripiler) (figurative, informal)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Les réflexions bêtes de certains de mes élèves me hérissent le poil.

be as bald as a coot

locution verbale (familier (être chauve) (informal)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Pierre n'a pas un poil sur le caillou et il est très heureux comme cela.

not change at all

locution verbale (être toujours le même)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
He hasn't changed at all since the last time I saw him.

be as bald as a coot

locution verbale (familier (être devenu chauve) (informal)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

exactly, right

adverbe (familier (exactement, parfaitement)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Elle est pile-poil à l'heure. C'est pile-poil ce que je cherchais !
She was dead on time.

itching powder

nom masculin (poudre urticante pour blagues)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Quand j'étais jeune, mon frère et moi allions au magasin de farces et attrapes pour acheter du poil à gratter et des coussins péteurs.

thorn in the side for , thorn in the side of , thorn in 's side

(figuré (trublion) (figurative)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Alain est le poil à gratter du service.

bright ginger

adjectif invariable (familier (roux flamboyant) (hair)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")

carrot-top, ginger nut

nom masculin (familier (personne aux cheveux roux) (slang)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

Poil de Carotte

nom propre (roman de Jules Renard) (book title)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

Poil de Carotte

nom propre masculin (personnage du roman) (book character)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

ingrowing hair

nom masculin (poil poussant sous la peau)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

perk up again

locution verbale (reprendre le dessus)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

a tad

locution adverbiale (familier (un peu) (informal)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Je trouve que cette veste est un poil grande pour moi.
This jacket is a tad big for me.

Let's learn French

So now that you know more about the meaning of poil in French, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in French.

Do you know about French

French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.