bordel
French, noun/bɔʁ.dɛl/
bordel is spelled B-O-R-D-E-L (6 letters) and appears 45 times per million words in written French, the 1,857th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Bordel is a French masculine noun meaning “brothel” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Établissement où se pratique la prostitution”.
What does bordel mean in English?
noun
- 1
informalmasculinebrothel
- 2
colloquialmasculinebloody mess (UK), goddamn mess (US)
C'est quoi ce bordel ?
interjection
- 1
slangvulgarbloody hell! (UK), Christ almighty!
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Établissement où se pratique la prostitution. 2. Situation chaotique, grand désordre. 3. Terme générique pour désigner un ensemble d’objets, souvent agaçant.
interjection: 1. Interjection qui exprime la colère, le dépit, l'exaspération, etc.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of bordel
- bordels plural
- b
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce bordel?
- /bɔʁ.dɛl/
- \bɔʁ.dɛl\
- [bɔʁ.dɛl]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to bordel
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is bordel in French?
bordel appears 45 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).