Published November 24, 2023 • Updated July 2, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier
Nul, nulle — Meaning and Pronunciation
Nul (feminine: nulle) is a common French adjective meaning “lousy,” “terrible,” or “no good.” In everyday French, you’ll often hear c’est nul (it sucks) and je suis nul en… (I’m lousy at…). Nul can also mean “zero,” “none,” or “invalid” in more formal contexts, but in casual speech it often describes something really bad.
IPA pronunciation of nul / nulle is /nyl/, which sounds approximately like “nool”.
Example Sentences
Oh là là, c’est nul !
Whow! That sucks!
Je suis nul en maths.
I’m lousy at math.
Ce n’est pas que je suis nul. C’est que je ne m’applique pas.
It’s not that I suck. It’s that I don’t apply myself.
Je n’aime pas le prof de physique. Il est vraiment nul !
I don’t like the physics teacher. He’s really no good.
Tu as vu le dernier film de Depardieu ? – Oui, c’était nul !
Did you see the latest Depardieu movie? — Yes, it sucked!
👉 Next lesson: Ça craint — fun expression with meanings including “that sucks”.
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Related words and expressions
- archinul / archi-nul — really terrible, absolutely awful
- mauvais / mauvaise — bad, poor
- pourri / pourrie — rotten, awful, terrible
- pas terrible — not great, pretty bad
- lamentable — terrible, pathetic, disgraceful
- bof — meh, not great
- un navet — a terrible movie
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