Skip to content

fillette

little girl

noun fee-YET Less Common

Origin: French fille (girl) + diminutive -ette

Usage Note

Fillette is a diminutive of fille, used affectionately or descriptively for a young girl, typically under about ten years old. Beyond that age, jeune fille or simply fille is more natural. The word carries a tender, literary, or slightly old-fashioned tone compared to petite fille.

Examples

"La fillette courait dans le parc en riant."

Natural Translation

The little girl was running in the park, laughing.

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