Skip to content

pipeau

reed pipe, penny whistle

noun pee-POH Rare
Arts & Culture Music

Also means

nonsense, rubbish (slang)

Usage Note

Pipeau is a small, simple wind instrument (a reed pipe or penny whistle), traditionally associated with shepherds. In modern colloquial French, c'est du pipeau ('it's pipeau') means 'that's nonsense' or 'rubbish', implying something is fake or misleading. The plural follows the regular -eau/-eaux pattern: des pipeaux.

Examples

"Il joue du pipeau dans les champs."

Natural Translation

He plays the reed pipe in the fields.

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