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se tourner les pouces

French, verb/sə tuʁ.ne le pus/

se tourner les pouces is a French verb meaning “to twiddle one's thumbs” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Être oisif, rester à ne rien faire”.

What does se tourner les pouces mean in English?

verb

  1. 1

    informalto twiddle one's thumbs

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

How French dictionaries define it

verb: 1. Être oisif, rester à ne rien faire.

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 se tourner les pouces?

  • /sə tuʁ.ne le pus/

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