Published May 26, 2024 • Updated September 28, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier
Faim meaning
Faim is a French feminine noun meaning “hunger.” It’s most commonly used in the expression avoir faim, meaning to be hungry. For example, j’ai faim means “I’m hungry.” Be careful not to say je suis faim, a very common mistake among beginners; French uses avoir (to have) rather than être (to be) when talking about hunger.
Faim pronunciation
The IPA pronunciation of faim is /fɛ̃/, which sounds approximately like “feh(n).”
Faim example sentences
Oh là là, j’ai faim ! Qu’est-ce que j’ai envie de manger ?
Oh my! I’m hungry! What do I want to eat?
J’ai une faim de loup ! Je vais tout bouffer !
I’m famished! I’m going to eat everything!
La faim est le problème pricipal dans les pays en voie de développement.
Hunger is the main problem in the developing world.
👉 Related lesson: Avoir la dalle (to be very hungry) »
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🪶 Word origin
Faim comes from the Latin word fames, meaning “hunger” or “starvation.” Over time, Old French forms such as feim and faim developed into the modern French faim. The word is also related to English words such as famine, which ultimately come from the same Latin root.
🔗 Related words and expressions
- avoir une faim de loup — to be extremely hungry
- mourir de faim — to be starving
- crever de faim — to be starving (informal)
- avoir la dalle — to be really hungry (slang)
- crever la dalle — to be starving (slang)
- une petite faim — a little hunger, a craving for a snack
- couper la faim — to curb hunger
📚 Related lessons
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