What does perdu mean?
Perdu is a rare English adjective borrowed from French, meaning lost, wasted, or beyond recovery. It can describe a person or plan that has been lost, resources that have been squandered, or a situation that has become hopeless. For example, an attempt might be called perdu if its essential equipment or opportunity to succeed has disappeared. The word is generally used predicatively in English, most often in constructions such as “the plan was perdu,” and it has a formal, literary tone because it is much less common than “lost,” “wasted,” or “hopeless.” Its unusual status makes it especially effective in deliberately elevated or French-flavoured writing. Although closely related to the standard French perdu, it is not normally interchangeable with English “lost” in everyday speech.
adjectiveLost, wasted, or beyond recovery; hopeless. In modern English it is chiefly used predicatively, though it is now chiefly encountered as a French borrowing.
- Lost or beyond recovery.
- Wasted or squandered.
- Hopeless or doomed.
"With the only route blocked, the rescue attempt was perdu."
"The expedition was perdu after its radio and supplies failed."
"Months of effort were perdu because the project was poorly planned."
Perdu survives in English as a French word in disguise: it literally means “lost” and can describe an effort, cause, or situation beyond recovery.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does perdu come from?
The English word comes from French perdu, the past participle of perdre, “to lose.” French perdre developed from Old French and ultimately from Latin perdere, “to lose, destroy, or waste.” The English form was borrowed with its French stress and pronunciation, while related English words include perish, forfeit, and perdition. In French, perdu also forms the feminine singular perdue, but that gender form is not generally used as an English derivative.
How perdu is actually used
This is an uncommon, somewhat literary English borrowing from French. In English it is most often used predicatively, as in “the attempt was perdu,” rather than before a noun. The unaltered French expression “c’est perdu” remains more familiar in contexts where the word is deliberately French.