Skip to content

cirque

circus

noun SEERK Less Common
Arts & Culture Performance

Also means

chaos, mess (informal)

Usage Note

Cirque in its literal sense refers to the big-top circus with performers and animals. In informal speech, c'est le cirque means 'it's total chaos' or 'what a circus', used to complain about disorder. In geography, un cirque glaciaire (or cirque alone) refers to a bowl-shaped glacial hollow in mountains.

Examples

"Les enfants adorent aller au cirque."

Natural Translation

Children love going to the circus.

Explore French by topic