French Conversation · Level 50
74 words
French word
outrance
Pronunciation
IPA/utʁɑ̃s/
Meaning
- feminine nounexcess
Example
Après la rupture, il a bu à outrance.
After the breakup, he drank to excess.
More examples
Sur les réseaux, il critique à outrance sans réfléchir.
On social media, he criticizes excessively without thinking.
Core concept
A course of action pushed beyond its natural limit until excess becomes its defining quality.
Common phrases
critiquer à outrance
criticize excessively
défendre à outrance
defend excessively
Similar words
excès: More of something than is needed or appropriate.
exagération: An overly dramatic presentation that goes beyond the facts.
démesure: A condition of exceeding normal limits by a wide margin.
Definition in French
Disposition ou manière d'agir marquée par un excès, fréquemment utilisée dans la tournure «à outrance».
Word origin
French outrance is formed from outre with the noun-forming suffix -ance, while outre comes through Old French from Latin ultra.
Usage tips
- In the fixed phrase à outrance, the expression has a formal or literary tone and means beyond reasonable limits rather than simply very much.