Skip to content

décaler

to shift, to offset

verb deh-kah-LEH Rare
Time Time Expressions

Also means

to reschedule, to stagger

Usage Note

Décaler covers physical shifting (moving something sideways), temporal rescheduling (décaler une réunion = to move a meeting), and staggering (shifts, timetables). The past participle décalé is frequently used as an adjective meaning 'quirky' or 'offbeat' (un humour décalé). Le décalage horaire is 'jet lag' or 'time difference'.

Examples

"On a dû décaler la réunion d'une heure."

Natural Translation

We had to push the meeting back by an hour.

Free starter pack

Building your French vocabulary?

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

Explore French by topic