nounnounadjective

le triste

sad

C’est quand on ne se sent pas heureux et que l’on a envie de pleurer.

Definition & meaning

The word "triste" is a common French adjective used to describe a state of sorrow, unhappiness, or gloom. It can be applied in several contexts:

Emotional state: It describes a person who feels unhappy or is in low spirits due to a specific event or a general mood.
Characterizing things or events: It can describe something that causes sadness, such as a "triste nouvelle" (sad news) or a "triste film" (sad movie).
Appearance or atmosphere: It is used to describe things that are dull, dreary, or lacking in color and life, such as "un temps triste" (gloomy weather) or "une chambre triste" (a bleak room).
Quality or state: In some contexts, it can mean "pitiful" or "sorry," as in "un triste sire" (a sorry fellow) or "un triste spectacle" (a pathetic sight).

Grammar & Word origin

Grammatically, "triste" is an adjective. One of its key features is that it is the same for both masculine and feminine singular nouns (an epicene adjective). For the plural form, an "s" is added: "tristes."

The word originates from the Latin "tristis," which also meant sad, sorrowful, or grim. It has maintained this core meaning throughout its evolution into Modern French.