Meanings
- datedidiomaticinformaluncountableA departure taken quietly and unnoticed, without asking for permission or informing anyone.First known use mid 18th c.
As for Ditton, after all his courting, and his compliment, he ſtole avvay an Iriſhman's bride, and took a French leave of me and his maſter; […]
1771, [Tobias Smollett], “To Mrs. Mary Jones, at Brambleton-hall”, in The Expedition of Humphry Clinker […], volume II, London: […] W. Johnston, […]; and B. Collins, […], →OCLC, page 226Synonyms: French exit, AWOL, disappearing act, Irish goodbye
- datedeuphemisticidiomaticinformalspecificallyuncountablegovernmentDesertion or temporary absence from duty or service without permission; absence without leave, AWOL.
he may have felt a particular need to mitigate the responsibility of those who shirked their duty, for as he wrote that letter he had just returned from French leave himself.
2010, William Marvel, The Great Task Remaining: The Third Year of Lincoln’s War, page 10
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA departure taken quietly and unnoticed, without asking for permission or informing anyone.
Origin
From French (adjective) + leave (noun), apparently from a French custom, already recorded in the 18th century, of leaving from receptions or other events without formally announcing one’s departure to the host or hostess. Compare Spanish irse a la francesa and Portuguese sair à francesa (“go in the French manner”) but also the otherwise ubiquitous attribution of this behaviour to the English as with French filer à l’anglaise (“leave in the English manner”), Italian filarsela all'inglese, Polish wyjść po angielsku, etc.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 不辭而別 /不辞而别
- 不辭而別 /不辞而别 (bùcí'érbié)departure taken quietly and unnoticed
Finnish liukeneminen, häipyminen
- liukeneminendeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
- häipyminendeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
- haihtuminendeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
French filer à l'anglaise
- filer à l'anglaisedeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
German französischer Abschied, grußloser Abschied, heimliche Abfahrt etc.
- französischer Abschieddeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
- grußloser Abschied, heimliche Abfahrt etc.departure taken quietly and unnoticed
- einen Polnischen machendeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
Hungarian angolosan távozik
- angolosan távozikdeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
Italian andarsene all'inglese, filarsela all’inglese
- andarsene all'inglesedeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
- filarsela all’inglesedeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
Polish wyjście po angielsku
- wyjście po angielskudeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
Portuguese saída à francesa
- saída à francesadeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
Russian ухо́д по-англи́йски
- ухо́д по-англи́йски (uxód po-anglíjski)departure taken quietly and unnoticed
Spanish despedida a la francesa
- despedida a la francesadeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
Swedish bondpermission, bondpermis
- bondpermissiondeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
- bondpermisdeparture taken quietly and unnoticed
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with French leave
Cite this entry
French leave. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/French%20leave
“French leave.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/French%20leave. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “French leave,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/French%20leave.
Source: French leave on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.