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souffle

French, noun

souffle is a French masculine noun meaning “blowing (act of expelling air from the mouth)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of souffler. With an accent, soufflé is a different word: “soufflé”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Poussée d'air provoquée par les voies respiratoires d'un être qui respire”.

What does souffle mean in English?

noun

  1. 1

    masculineblowing (act of expelling air from the mouth)

  2. 2

    masculinea breeze, a gust (movement of wind)

  3. 3

    masculinea breath, or the act of breathing

  4. 4

    masculinethe inspiration or influence (for a work of art, idea, & so forth))

  5. 5

    masculinethe powerful movement of air caused by an explosion

  6. 6

    masculinethe sound made by any condition which produces noisy, or turbulent, flow of blood through the heart; a murmur

verb

  1. 1

    first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive

  2. 2

    second-person singular imperative

noun

as soufflé
  1. 1

    masculinesoufflé

verb

as soufflé
  1. 1

    past participle of souffler

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

How French dictionaries define it

adjective: 1. Qui est exagéré, surestimé. 2. Surpris, étonné.

noun: 1. S’emploie pour désigner une crème, une purée, etc., qui se gonfle à la cuisson. 2. Bulle spéculative.

noun: 1. Poussée d'air provoquée par les voies respiratoires d'un être qui respire. 2. Simple respiration. 3. Agitation de l’air. 4. Mouvement d’un gaz.

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 souffle

  • soufflés plural
  • souffles plural
  • soufflée feminine
  • soufflées feminine plural

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

English words that translate to souffle

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

How common is souffle in French?

souffle appears 25 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).