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About the adjective SOÛL / SAOUL in French (#882)

Chris asks about a French adjective that sounds like sou in the masculine and soule in the feminine. It means “drunk.” What word is it?

soûl (masculine; sounds like sou)
soûle (feminine; sounds like soule)

You’ll also see this spelling:

saoul (masculine; sounds like sou)
saoule (feminine; sounds like soule)

A québécois expression that comes to mind using the adjective soûl is this one: être soûl comme une botte.

If you’re soûl comme une botte, then you’re very drunk.

In Yves Beauchemin’s Le matou, we find:

Il était soûl comme une botte en quittant le restaurant.
He was totally drunk when he left the restaurant.

This is the masculine form of the adjective, so it’s pronounced sou.

A character on the 2014 Bye Bye used the vulgar expression en crisse after this adjective to make it stronger:

J’étais soûle en crisse!
I was drunk as hell!
I was fucking drunk!

This is the feminine form of the adjective, so it’s pronounced soule.

According to the rectifications orthographiques, this adjective can also be spelled soul and soule, without the accent.

saoul, saoule (older spelling)
soûl, soûle
soul, soule (according to spelling modifications)

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