Skip to content

retardé

delayed person

noun adjective ruh-tar-DEH Rare

Usage Note

Retardé as a noun informally refers to someone slow-witted, but this usage is widely considered offensive. As an adjective it simply means 'delayed' or 'late' (e.g. un vol retardé — a delayed flight). Learners should be aware of the pejorative register when used as a noun referring to a person.

Examples

"Le vol est retardé de deux heures."

Natural Translation

The flight is delayed by two hours.

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