dessous
French, preposition/də.su/
dessous is spelled D-E-S-S-O-U-S (7 letters) and appears 62 times per million words in written French, the 1,363rd most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Dessous is a French preposition meaning “under; beneath” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “À la partie, à la face inférieure d’une chose”.
What does dessous mean in English?
adverb
- 1
underneath; beneath
noun
- 1
masculineunderside; bottom
- 2
masculinedisadvantage
- 3
masculine(women's) underwear
Elle a osé montrer ses dessous en plein air.
- 4
masculinehidden agenda
preposition
- 1
under; beneath
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adverb: 1. Dans la partie, à la face inférieure.
preposition: 1. À la partie, à la face inférieure d’une chose.
noun: 1. Partie, face inférieure d’une chose. 2. Premier travail de l’artiste, l’ensemble des touches préparatoires qu’un travail ultérieur recouvrira plus ou moins. 3. Quelque chose de secret, de caché dont il faut se défier. 4. Étage ou pièces inférieurs.
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 dessous
- dessours
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce dessous?
- /də.su/
- \də.su\
- [də.su]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to dessous
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is dessous in French?
dessous appears 62 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).