bouillie

porridge, mush, gruel

noun boo-YEE Rare

Origin: From bouillir (to boil)

Also means

pulp, mash (figurative)

Usage Note

Bouillie is a cooked cereal or grain porridge, traditionally given to babies as first solid food. Colloquially, en bouillie (turned to mush) describes anything reduced to a pulpy mess — les tomates étaient en bouillie (the tomatoes were mashed to a pulp). The expression c'est de la bouillie pour les chats ('it's cat gruel') means something is incomprehensible or worthless.

Examples

"La grand-mère prépare de la bouillie pour le bébé."

Natural Translation

The grandmother is making porridge for the baby.

Free starter pack

Building your French vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Related Words

Explore French by topic

FrenchNow

Sorry in French: Désolé vs Pardon vs Excusez-moi

Use désolé for genuine regret, pardon to bump or squeeze past, and excusez-moi to get attention. A situation-by-situation guide to saying sorry in French.

June 4, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

Ordering Food in French: Restaurant Phrases That Work

Order food in French with confidence: greet first, say je voudrais not je veux, ask for a carafe d'eau, answer quelle cuisson, and request the bill yourself.

June 4, 2026 6 min read

FrenchNow

French Silent Letters: The CaReFuL Rule

Final consonants in French are silent by default — except C, R, F, L. The CaReFuL rule, the silent -e, the plural-s trap, and liaison, explained simply.

June 4, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

Je t'aime vs Je t'adore: I Love You in French

Je t'aime is the real romantic I love you; je t'adore means warm fondness, not romance. Here's the person-vs-thing rule and the bien trap that flips it.

June 4, 2026 6 min read