retenu
French, adjective/ʁə.t(ə).ny/
retenu is spelled R-E-T-E-N-U (6 letters) and appears 16 times per million words in written French, the 4,565th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Retenu is a French adjective meaning “cautious, moderate, reserved” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a past participle of retenir. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Qui est circonspect, sage, modéré, réservé”.
What does retenu mean in English?
adjective
- 1
cautious, moderate, reserved
verb
- 1
past participle of retenir
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui est circonspect, sage, modéré, réservé.
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 retenu
- retenue feminine
- retenus masculine plural
- retenues feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce retenu?
- /ʁə.t(ə).ny/
- \ʁət.ny\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is retenu in French?
retenu appears 16 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).