Beaucoup

WORD OF THE DAY

beaucoup / adjective / BOH-koo

Definition

1a: slang, great in quantity or amount 

1b: many, much

Examples

"Atlanta has beaucoup amenities for visitors, from one of the world's largest aquariums to headier destinations such as the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library." 

— Michael Kahn, Curbed Atlanta, 12 July 2017

"Two estranged sisters with beaucoup unresolved issues meet for a European holiday in Swedish writer-director Lisa Langseth's inauspicious English-language feature 'Euphoria.'" 

— Alissa Simon, Variety, 8 Sept. 2017

Did You Know?

In French, as you may know, beaucoup is an adverb meaning "a lot" or "much" (as in merci beaucoup, meaning "thanks a lot"). Beaucoup isn't used on its own as an adjective in French; if you want to say "many" in French, you use the phrase beaucoup de. I

n other words, you would say beaucoup de livres ("a lot of books"), not beaucoup livres. But French grammar was thrown to the wind when English speakers borrowed this word. Beaucoup has been used as a playful slang adjective in English since at least the 19th century.