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sec

French, noun/sɛk/

sec is a French masculine noun meaning “something that is dry” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Ce qui n’est pas humide”.

What does sec mean in English?

adjective

  1. 1

    dry

  2. 2

    dried, having had its moisture evaporated

    des abricots secs

  3. 3

    lean, thin, skinny

  4. 4

    dry, unsweetened, not sweet, bitter

  5. 5

    curt

    Désolé si j'ai été un peu sec.

noun

  1. 1

    masculinesomething that is dry

adverb

  1. 1

    sharply, abruptly, quickly, swiftly, briskly

    Les bouches buvaient sec et parlaient beaucoup.

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

How French dictionaries define it

adjective: 1. Qui a peu ou pas d’humidité. 2. Il est opposé à vert et frais, lorsqu’on parle des herbes, des plantes. 3. Dont on a évaporé les éléments humides, séché ou asséché. 4. Décharné ; nerveux ; osseux.

noun: 1. Ce qui n’est pas humide. 2. Fourrage séché, foin, paille ou avoine. 3. Endroit sec. 4. Terre, par opposition à l’eau.

adverb: 1. Rudement, sans ménagement, brusquement. 2. Sans eau ajoutée, en parlant d’alcool. 3. Intensément, sans perdre de temps.

noun: 1. Seconde.

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 sec

  • sèche feminine
  • secs masculine plural
  • sèches feminine plural

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

How do you pronounce sec?

  • /sɛk/
  • /sɛkʲ/
  • \sɛk\

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

English words that translate to sec

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

How common is sec in French?

sec appears 28 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).