poilu
French, noun/pwa.ly/
poilu is a French masculine noun meaning “poilu (French soldier during World War I)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Personne ayant beaucoup de poils sur le corps”.
What does poilu mean in English?
adjective
- 1
informalhairy
- 2
datedbrave, courageous; energetic
noun
- 1
masculinepoilu (French soldier during World War I)
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui est velu, couvert de poils. 2. Courageux, énergique. 3. Relatif à Poil, commune française située dans le département de la Nièvre.
noun: 1. Personne ayant beaucoup de poils sur le corps. 2. Courageux, énergique. 3. Soldat français qui combattait au front pendant la guerre de 1914-1918.
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 poilu
- poilue feminine
- poilus masculine plural
- poilues feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce poilu?
- /pwa.ly/
- \pwa.ly\
- [pwa.ly]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to poilu
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is poilu in French?
poilu appears 1.7 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).