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galère

French, noun

galère is a French feminine noun meaning “galley (kind of ship)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of galérer. With an accent, galéré is a different word: “past participle of galérer”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Vaisseau de forme allongée, allant à rames et à voiles”.

What does galère mean in English?

noun

  1. 1

    femininegalley (kind of ship)

  2. 2

    femininetorturous forced labor (long done at the oars of state galleys)

    envoyer aux galères

  3. 3

    feminineinformala terrible task, drudge, ordeal, problem

    c'est une galère

  4. 4

    femininea type of oven

  5. 5

    femininemason's cart, for loading building materials

  6. 6

    femininea group of people having a common interest, especially a coterie of undesirable people

  7. 7

    femininean unpleasant situation

adjective

  1. 1

    colloquialdifficult; hellish

verb

  1. 1

    first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive

  2. 2

    second-person singular imperative

verb

as galéré
  1. 1

    past participle of galérer

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

How French dictionaries define it

noun: 1. Vaisseau de forme allongée, allant à rames et à voiles. 2. (Du Moyen Âge au XVIIIᵉ) Bâtiment long, ponté et de bas bord, équipé de deux mâts et de deux voiles latines, qui allait ordinairement à rames et qui était très utilisé en Méditerranée comme navire de combat ou de commerce. 3. Peine que subissaient ceux qui étaient condamnés à ramer sur les galères, ou, après la disparition de ces navires, aux travaux forcés. 4. Lieu, état ou condition où l’on a beaucoup à travailler, à souffrir.

adjective: 1. Pénible, difficile à supporter.

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 galère

  • galères plural
  • galérée feminine
  • galérés masculine plural
  • galérées feminine plural

Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

English words that translate to galère

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is galère in French?

galère appears 9.3 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).