Une insulte très grossière visant un homme.
A very rude insult for a man.
Couldn’t load the audio. Please try again.
See how the word “fils de pute” is used in sentences
Il m'a traité de fils de pute. — He called me a son of a bitch.
Seul un fils de pute abandonnerait un ami comme ça. — Only a son of a bitch would leave a friend like that.
Où ce fils de pute a-t-il garé ma voiture ? — Where did that son of a bitch park my car?
Check a word only if you could give at least one of its meanings.
words — the estimated size of your passive French vocabulary
Turn the gaps into your vocabulary
Download the app for free French vocabulary testIt does not carry the weight of the English phrase it translates. Son of a bitch can be admiring or nearly fond — you old son of a bitch, son of a gun; fils de pute never is. It names the mother, and in French that lands as a real attack rather than a rough turn of phrase. It is one of the few insults that reliably starts a fight.
English also uses son of a bitch with nobody in mind, as a bark at a stubbed toe. French does not: the all-purpose expletive there is putain, or merde for something milder. Written down the insult is usually shortened to FDP, which is how it slips past filters online.
putain damn, bloody hell
Aimed at nobody, and the closest thing French has to a general-purpose swear word. This is what son of a bitch becomes when it is not an insult.
merde shit
Milder still, and tolerated in company that would not sit through the rest of this list.
connard asshole
About the person rather than the mother, and several rungs less serious.
abruti idiot, dumbass
Rude but harmless — closer to idiot than to an insult, and usable between friends.
Your own vocabulary
Learn the words you actually need
A ready-made word card
Translation, examples and audio appear on their own
We help you not forget
We bring words back to practice at the right moment
Add real-life words — VibeLing reinforces them until they become automatic.
Add “fils de pute” to your vocabulary and learn it with translation, audio and spaced repetition — right in the app.
