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nounadjective

le collant

tights

Definition & meaning

The word collant serves as both an adjective and a noun in French, with several distinct meanings depending on the context:

  1. Adjective (Physical property): It describes something that sticks to surfaces, such as glue, tape, or a sugary substance. It can be translated as "sticky" or "tacky."
  2. Adjective (Clothing): It describes a garment that fits very closely to the body. It translates to "tight-fitting" or "clingy."
  3. Adjective (Figurative/Social): It is used to describe a person who is overly affectionate, intrusive, or difficult to get rid of. In this sense, it means "clingy" or "pestering."
  4. Noun (Masculine): As a noun, un collant refers to a piece of clothing that covers the legs and feet (or just the legs), typically made of nylon, wool, or cotton. This translates to "tights" or "pantyhose." It can also refer to athletic leggings or skins used in sports.

Grammar & Word origin

The word is derived from the French verb coller, which means "to stick" or "to glue." It is the present participle of the verb used as an adjective.

As an adjective, it must agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies:

  • Masculine singular: collant
  • Feminine singular: collante
  • Masculine plural: collants
  • Feminine plural: collantes

As a noun, it is masculine (le collant). Even though the garment covers two legs, it is often used in the singular to refer to the whole piece, or in the plural (des collants) to refer to multiple pairs or the garment itself.

Synonyms & antonyms

Synonyms

  • For the physical property (sticky): adhésif, gluant, poisseux, visqueux.
  • For the social behavior (clingy): envahissant, importun, pot de colle[?](vocabuo://word/pot de colle) (idiomatic).
  • For the clothing (noun): bas (stockings), legging, caleçon.

Antonyms

  • For the physical property: sec (dry), lisse (smooth), glissant (slippery).
  • For the social behavior: distant, discret, indifférent.
  • For the fit of clothing: large (loose/wide), flottant (baggy).

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Examples

J’ai acheté des collants noirs pour l’hiver.noun

I bought black tights for the winter.

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