🎧 Audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a native speaker & professional voice artist from France
Did you know Halloween isn’t traditionally celebrated in France, but it’s hugely popular in Québéc, Canada? In French, people simply say “l’Halloween“ (pronounced ah-low-een) since there is no official translation. For “trick or treat,” kids in Québéc say “Bonbons, s’il vous plaît!” — “Candy, please!” Keep reading to learn lots of fun French Halloween vocabulary!
🎃 Halloween vocabulary in French
Here are the most useful Halloween words in French.
Bonbons s’il-vous-plaît !
Trick-or-treat! (Québec)
Des bonbons ou un sort !
Trick-or-treat! (France)
Joyeux Halloween !
Happy Halloween!
le 31 octobre
October 31
un déguisement halloween
Halloween costume
🧛 Halloween costumes in French
In French, the word for “costume” is un déguisement, which is similar to the English word “disguise.” Here are the French equivalents of the most popular Halloween costumes:
une sorcière
witch
une princesse
princess
un cow-boy
cowboy
un clown
clown
une squelette
skeleton
une citrouille
pumpkin
un zombie
zombie
un fantôme
ghost
un épouvantail
scarecrow
un pompier
firefighter
🇫🇷 Want to build your French vocabulary?
Many students have asked me to recommend a good self-study course. I suggest Camille’s À Moi Paris audio program from French Today — it teaches essential French words and phrases through fun, engaging audio stories, with lessons for every level.
👉 Try the course »
👉 Read my review »
If you purchase the courses, I may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you.
🎃 Extra Halloween vocabulary
👸 More costumes
- la Faucheuse — Grim Reaper
- un fantôme — ghost
- une sorcière — witch
- un vampire — vampire
- un zombie — zombie
- un loup-garou — werewolf
- une citrouille — pumpkin
- un squelette — skeleton
- un pirate — pirate
- un super-héros — superhero
🏚️ Decorations and nouns
- l’automne — autumn
- un cercueil — coffin
- un cimetière — cemetery
- une citrouille illuminée — Jack-o-lantern
- une toile d’araignée — spiderweb
- une tombe — tombstone
- la fumée — smoke
- le clair de lune — moonlight
😱 Spooky adjectives
- effrayant(e) — scary
- bizarre — weird
- hanté(e) — haunted
- maléfique — evil
- terrifiant(e) — terrifying
🪄 Verbs and actions
- se déguiser — to wear a costume
- sculpter une citrouille — to carve a pumpkin
- distribuer des bonbons — to hand out candy
- frapper aux portes — to knock on doors
- effrayer quelqu’un — to scare someone
🖼️ Here’s a quick recap you can save or share:
🎄 More French holiday vocabulary
👉 French Christmas vocabulary
👉 French Thanksgiving vocabulary
👉 French Valentine’s Day vocabulary
👉 French Hanukkah Vocabulary
🚀 Continue growing your French vocabulary!
👉 French Word of the Day »
👉 French adverbs overview »
👉 French Vocabulary lists »
👉 French for beginners guide »
👉 French song lyrics hub »
👉 French conjugations hub
[…] Check this out: https://www.frenchlearner.com/vocabulary/halloween/ […]