What does douche mean?
Douche most literally denotes a stream of water or medicated liquid directed at some part of the body — an eye, ear, nose, or vagina — whether for hygiene or treatment, along with the syringe or nozzle that delivers it. The word entered English from French in the eighteenth century, when douches were a fashionable feature of spas and hydrotherapy. Today, however, many English speakers, particularly in North America, encounter the word primarily as an insult: calling someone a douche (or a douchebag) labels them arrogant, obnoxious, or contemptible, a usage popularized in the early twenty-first century through comedy and internet culture. Because this figurative sense is crude and offensive, the word should be avoided in professional or formal writing, where the literal clinical sense remains perfectly acceptable.
A stream of water or medicated liquid directed at a part of the body, or the apparatus used to deliver it.
"She rinsed her sinuses with a nasal douche every morning."
Neutral and clinical in this sense.
(Informal, chiefly North American) An obnoxious or contemptible person.
"Don't invite him again — everyone thinks he's a douche."
Vulgar-adjacent; offensive in formal settings.
To wash or flush (a body cavity or part) with a stream of water or medicated liquid.
"The wound was douched with antiseptic before being dressed."
Mostly medical register.
Regular plural, pronounced /ˈduːʃɪz/.
"The clinic stocked several types of douches for different treatments."
From a French word meaning simply 'to soak', douche has traveled from polite Victorian medicine to one of America's favorite insults.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of douche
Douche comes from French douche, a noun use of doucher 'to shower, soak', ultimately from Italian doccia 'a conduit, pipe, shower', derived from Latin ductia, from ducere 'to lead'. It was adopted into English during the eighteenth century in the context of hydrotherapy and medical washing. Its use as a term of abuse arose much later, in twentieth-century North American slang, apparently by way of the compound douchebag.
Related word forms
How douche is actually used
In its literal medical sense the word is neutral and clinical. In its figurative sense it is vulgar-adjacent and offensive, common in casual American English but best avoided in formal contexts. British English uses the insult far less often than American English.
Easily confused with douche
Deuce refers to the number two, a tie score in tennis, or (informally) excrement, while a douche is a cleansing spray of liquid or an insulting term for a person.