# Sacrebleu
**Sacrebleu** (also written *sacré bleu* or *sacre bleu*) is a dated French exclamation, a [minced oath](https://www.edgepedia.org/minced-oath) expressing surprise, indignation, or exasperation, formed by replacing *Dieu* (God) with the rhyming word *bleu* (blue) in the oath *sacré Dieu* ("holy God")[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/translations/sacre-bleu) • [2](https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/sacredieu/70447). In French it is typically written as one word, without an accent[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/translations/sacre-bleu).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Meaning | A mild, euphemistic oath of surprise, irritation, or amazement[3](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sacre-bleu) |
| Origin | Euphemism for *sacré Dieu* ("holy God"); *bleu* rhymes with *Dieu*, avoiding blasphemy[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/translations/sacre-bleu) |
| First attestation | 1552 in French; it did not catch on until the early 19th century[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/translations/sacre-bleu) |
| English adoption | Recorded in 1869 as an English notion of a stereotypical French oath; used in British writings about the French by 1805[4](https://www.etymonline.com/word/sacre%20bleu) • [1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/translations/sacre-bleu) |
| Decline in French | Dropped largely out of use in French in the mid-20th century[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/translations/sacre-bleu) |
| Related oaths | *corbleu*, *morbleu*, *palsambleu*, *parbleu*, *ventrebleu*[5](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sacrebleu) |
## Etymology
The oath replaces the name of God with a rhyme. In historical France, Christians avoided taking the Lord's name in vain, so they proposed substitutes for exclamations such as *Mon Dieu!* ("My God!"); *bleu*, meaning "blue," rhymes with *Dieu*, making it a convenient way to avoid blasphemy[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/translations/sacre-bleu). The Larousse dictionary analyzes *sacrebleu* as built from *sacre* and a euphemistic alteration of *Dieu*, and notes the non-euphemistic form *sacredieu*[2](https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/sacredieu/70447). The French Wiktionary derives it as an alteration of *[Par le] sacre de Dieu* ("by the sacrament of God"), with *bleu* used as a substitute to avoid blasphemy[6](https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/sacrebleu).
The element *sacré* traces further back through [Old French](https://www.edgepedia.org/old-french) *sacrer* ("consecrate, anoint, dedicate," 12th century) to Latin *sacrare*, "to make or declare sacred"[4](https://www.etymonline.com/word/sacre%20bleu).
## History of use
The word *sacrebleu* is attested in French as early as 1552, although it did not really catch on until the early 19th century[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/translations/sacre-bleu). Its use was particularly widespread in the 17th and 18th centuries, when it served to circumvent the religious prohibition on blasphemy by avoiding pronunciation of the name of God[7](https://www.allodico.com/dictionnaire/mot/sacrebleu).
By 1805 the expression, written variously as *sacré bleu* or *sacre bleu* in English, appeared in British writings about [French people](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-people), sprinkled into texts to show how French a person or character was[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/translations/sacre-bleu). The Online Etymology Dictionary, compiled by Douglas Harper, dates the English sense of the phrase, an English notion of a stereotypical French oath, to 1869, from French *sacré bleu*, literally "holy blue," a euphemism for *sacré Dieu* (1768)[4](https://www.etymonline.com/word/sacre%20bleu).
Perhaps the most famous English-language example is [Agatha Christie](https://www.edgepedia.org/agatha-christie)'s Belgian detective [Hercule Poirot](https://www.edgepedia.org/hercule-poirot), for whom *sacré bleu* became something of a catchphrase; whether Belgian refugees of World War I actually said it is not known[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/translations/sacre-bleu).
## Decline and afterlife
As a minced oath, *sacrebleu* dropped largely out of use in French in the mid-20th century[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/translations/sacre-bleu). Larousse now labels it a dated oath (*juron vieilli*)[2](https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/sacredieu/70447), and it survives mainly in classical literature, historical films and comics, and stereotyped depictions of Frenchmen of the past, such as musketeers; modern use tends to create a comic or nostalgic effect[7](https://www.allodico.com/dictionnaire/mot/sacrebleu).
Anglophone writers, by contrast, continue to use it as a marker of stereotypical Frenchness, alongside thin mustaches, berets, and baguettes[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/translations/sacre-bleu). British tabloids have used *sacre bleu* in headlines about baguettes, burgers, and anti-pétanque measures, terms that have disappeared from the [French press](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-press) itself[8](https://information.tv5monde.com/culture/sacrebleu-oh-la-la-ces-expressions-francophones-prisees-par-les-anglophones-27237).
The phrase has also lent its name to an unrelated technical artifact: SacreBLEU, a tool introduced with a 2018 paper calling for standardized reporting of BLEU scores in machine translation[9](https://arxiv.org/abs/1804.08771).
## References
1. [sacré bleu, Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/translations/sacre-bleu)
2. [sacredieu !, sacrebleu !, Dictionnaire de français Larousse](https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/sacredieu/70447)
3. [SACRE BLEU Definition & Meaning, Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sacre-bleu)
4. [Etymology of sacre bleu, Online Etymology Dictionary](https://www.etymonline.com/word/sacre%20bleu)
5. [sacrebleu, Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sacrebleu)
6. [sacrebleu, Wiktionnaire](https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/sacrebleu)
7. [sacrebleu, Allo Dico](https://www.allodico.com/dictionnaire/mot/sacrebleu)
8. [« Sacrebleu ! » « Oh la la ! » ces expressions francophones prisées par les anglophones, TV5MONDE](https://information.tv5monde.com/culture/sacrebleu-oh-la-la-ces-expressions-francophones-prisees-par-les-anglophones-27237)
9. [A Call for Clarity in Reporting BLEU Scores, arXiv](https://arxiv.org/abs/1804.08771)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Languages and linguistics › Linguistics › Language change, history, and social variation › Etymology and word origins*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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