New words in French dictionaries show ‘great suppleness’ of language

Pandemic and climate crisis account for most new entries in authoritative Le Robert and Larousse dictionaries

From covide (infected with coronavirus) to confinement (lockdown) and eco-anxiete (climate anxiety) to verdissement d'image (greenwashing), the pandemic and the climate crisis account for most new French words, Le Monde has concluded.

But if 28% of recent additions are essentially English, according to an analysis by the paper, nearly half are French coinages, demonstrating what it called the language's great suppleness, as well as the creativity and humour of its users".