drôle

French

Etymology

From Middle French drolle (“a merry fellow, pleasant rascal”) from Old French drolle (“one who lives luxuriously”), from Middle Dutch drol (“fat little man, goblin”) from Old Norse troll (“giant, troll”) (compare Middle High German trolle (“clown”)), from Proto-Germanic *truzlą (“creature which walks clumsily”), from *truzlaną (“to walk with short steps”). More at troll.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dʁol/
Audio (France) (file)
Rhymes: -ol
Homophone: drôles

Adjective

drôle (plural drôles)

funny, amusing
Synonyms: comique; désopilant; marrant; rigolo (informal); poilant (France, informal); crampant (Quebec, informal); fendard (France, slang)
(sometimes with "de") strange, weird, bizarre
- 1882, Guy de Maupassant, Madame Baptiste:
  C’est drôle, mais c’est comme ça...
  It's weird, but that's how it is...
- 1901, Adolphe Orain, Contes de l’Ille-et-Vilaine, page 207:
  C’était un bien drôle de petit homme que le père Langevin, tailleur et porteur de contraintes au Grand-Fougeray.
  He was quite an odd little man, that Father Langevin, mason and "porteur de contraintes" in Grand-Fougeray

Derived terms

drolatique
drôle de guerre
drôlement
drôlerie

Descendants

→ English: droll
⇒ Esperanto: drola

Anagrams

doler