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du fil à retordre

French, noun/dy fil a ʁ(ə).tɔʁdʁ/

du fil à retordre is a French masculine noun meaning “a hard time, some difficulties” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

What does du fil à retordre mean in English?

noun

  1. 1

    masculinea hard time, some difficulties

    Son adversaire lui a donné du fil à retordre.

Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How French dictionaries define it

adverb: 1. Difficultés, avec une notion de durée et de complexité.

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.

How do you pronounce du fil à retordre?

  • /dy fil a ʁ(ə).tɔʁdʁ/
  • \dy fi.l‿a ʁə.tɔʁdʁ\

Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.