porte-bonheur

good-luck charm, talisman

noun port-boh-NUR Rare

Usage Note

Porte-bonheur is invariable in the plural — des porte-bonheur — following the French convention for compound nouns formed with porte-. A four-leaf clover or horseshoe is a classic porte-bonheur. It contrasts with porte-malheur, an object thought to bring bad luck.

Examples

"Elle garde un trèfle comme porte-bonheur."

Natural Translation

She keeps a clover as a good-luck charm.

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