Skip to content

nuque

nape of the neck

noun NOOK Rare

Also means

back of the neck

Usage Note

Nuque refers specifically to the back of the neck, not the neck as a whole (which is le cou). The expression avoir la nuque raide means to have a stiff neck.

Examples

"Elle a senti un souffle dans la nuque."

Natural Translation

She felt a breath on the nape of her neck.

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