Skip to content

foncer

to dash, to go full speed

verb fohn-SEH Less Common

Also means

to darken (a colour)

Usage Note

Foncer has two distinct senses: to rush headlong (foncer droit devant soi = 'to charge straight ahead') and to make a colour darker (foncer la teinte = 'to darken the shade'). The colloquial sense 'to go for it / charge ahead' is very common in informal French: fonce! means 'go for it!' or 'step on it!'.

Examples

"Il a foncé vers la sortie sans s'arrêter."

Natural Translation

He dashed toward the exit without stopping.

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