Meaning
In contemporary familiar French, relou describes a person, behavior, joke, task, or situation as annoying, tiresome, heavy-handed, awkward, or lacking in finesse. It is verlan of lourd.
How it is used
Le Robert defines relou as familiar French derived from lourd and describes the sense as heavy, lacking finesse, or gross. Sociolinguistic writing on contemporary youth language lists relou among common verlan forms that have spread into familiar French.
Examples
- “Ce trajet est vraiment relou.”
- “Arrête, tu deviens relou.”
- “La blague était un peu reloue.”
Pronunciation
/ʁə.lu/ · ruh-LOO
Tone and register
Negative but often lower-intensity than a direct insult. It can complain about inconvenience, criticize somebody's persistence, or call behavior socially clumsy; directed repeatedly at a person it can still sound dismissive or hostile.
Visitor guidance
Visitors can often understand relou as annoying, a pain, awkward, or tiresome, but the exact English equivalent depends on what is being evaluated. It belongs to familiar speech and is better avoided in formal complaints or professional descriptions.
Cultural context
Relou shows how verlan can shift from marked youth vocabulary into broad everyday familiarity. Its current use across France means that a relou token alone does not identify a Parisian speaker or prove membership in a particular youth, class, ethnic, or neighborhood group.
Places represented
Open the reviewed place guide for each regional sense carried by this canonical entry.