plouc

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Breton plouk, from Breton ploue. First attested in c. 1880s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pluk/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

plouc m or f by sense (plural ploucs)

1. (informal, derogatory) hick, country bumpkin, yokel

   Synonym: paysan

2. (informal, derogatory, figuratively) rube
   • 1999, Anna Gavalda, “Permission”, in Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part, →ISBN:

     Mon frère, il ne dit jamais un pavillon, il dit une maison. Il trouve que le mot pavillon, ça fait plouc.

     My brother never says pavillon [detached suburban house], he always says maison [the general word for house]. He thinks the word pavillon sounds common.

See also

• péquenaud
• beauf
• plouquesse

Further reading

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