saugrenu

French

Etymology

Alteration of obsolete saugreneux (from sel + grain + -eux) after grenu (“granular”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /so.ɡʁə.ny/

• Audio (Nancy):

  (file)

Adjective

saugrenu (feminine saugrenue, masculine plural saugrenus, feminine plural saugrenues)

1. absurd, ridiculous, preposterous

   Synonyms: absurde, fantaisiste, ubuesque, farfelu

   • 2014, Édouard Louis, En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule [The End of Eddy], Le Seuil:

     C’était lors d’un des bals du village — des bals aux noms saugrenus qui avaient lieu dans la salle des fêtes plusieurs fois par an « Soirée tartiflette et années quatre-vingt », « Soirée cassoulet et sosies de Johnny ».

     It was during one of the village dances – dances with ridiculous names that took place in the village hall several times a year: "tartiflette and 80's night", "cassoulet and Johnny Hallyday lookalike night".

     [Tartiflette is a dish similar to a potato gratin, and cassoulet is a meat and bean stew. Johnny Hallyday was a French rock and roll singer.]

Derived terms

• saugrenuité

Further reading

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