faux pas

See also: Fauxpas

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French faux pas (“faux pas, blunder; misstep, false step”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): (singular) /fəʊ pɑː/, (plural) /fəʊ pɑːz/

• Audio (Southern England, singular):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England, plural):

  (file)

Noun

faux pas (plural faux pas)

1. An embarrassing or tactless blunder.

   Synonyms: misstep, mistake, blunder; see also Thesaurus:error

   • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, IV.iii:

     Now my dear Lady Teazle if you but once make a trifling Faux Pas you can't conceive how cautious you would grow, and how ready to humour and agree with your Husband.

   • 1906, Chesterton, Charles Dickens, chapter 2:

     A saint after repentance will forgive himself for a sin; a man about town will never forgive himself for a faux pas.

   • 2023 June 10, Roula Khalaf, “Lunch with the FT: François Hollande”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 3:

     He was also prone to faux pas, none as memorable as his 2014 secret escapade from the Élysée. He was captured in full-faced helmet on the back of a motor scooter on his way to meet his mistress, the actress Julie Gayet, who is now his wife.

Usage notes

• Especially used in social situations and contexts.

Translations

an embarrassing or tactless blunder

• Catalan: pas fals m, pas en fals m, passa en fals f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 失禮 / 失礼 (zh) (shīlǐ), 失態 / 失态 (zh) (shītài), 失足 (zh) (shīzú), 過失 / 过失 (zh) (guòshī), 失誤 / 失误 (zh) (shīwù)

• Czech: faux pas (cs) n, trapas (cs) m
• Danish: træde i spinaten
• Dutch: uitschuiver (nl) m
• Finnish: kömmähdys (fi), etikettivirhe, moka (fi), harha-askel (fi)
• French: faux pas (fr) m, (colloquial) impair (fr) m, gaffe (fr) f, bourde (fr) f
• German: Fauxpas (de) m
• Italian: passo falso m
• Japanese: 過失 (ja) (かしつ, kashitsu)
• Polish: faux pas (pl) n
• Russian: беста́ктность (ru) f (bestáktnostʹ), некраси́вый посту́пок m (nekrasívyj postúpok), просту́пок (ru) m (prostúpok), опло́шность (ru) f (oplóšnostʹ) (blunder, mistake); ло́жный шаг m (lóžnyj šag)
• Slovak: trapas m, prešľap m
• Spanish: (informally) metida de pata (es) f, metedura de pata (es) f
• Swedish: klavertramp (sv) n, fadäs (sv) c
• Vietnamese: thất lễ (vi)

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fo pa/ ~ /fo pɑ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

faux pas m (plural faux pas)

1. stumble, misstep, false step
2. (figuratively) faux pas, blunder

   Synonyms: pas de travers, (informal) gaffe, (informal) bourde, impair

Descendants

• → Danish: faux pas
• → English: faux pas
• → German: Fauxpas
• → Polish: faux pas
• → Russian: фо па́ (fo pá)

See also

• faute de goût

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French faux pas.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ ˈpa/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Syllabification: faux pas

Noun

faux pas n (indeclinable)

1. faux pas, blunder

   Synonyms: gafa, nietakt, wtopa, wpadka

Further reading

• faux pas in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• faux pas in Polish dictionaries at PWN