What does "frou-frou" mean?

A rustling sound, particularly the rustling of a large silk dress.

What is a synonym for "frou-frou"?

Common synonyms include: foo-foo.

//ˈfɹuːfɹuː// adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A rustling sound, particularly the rustling of a large silk dress. onomatopoeic
"The modern frou-frou of satin and gros-de-Naples skirts is nothing to the rustling of brocaded silks."

Verb

1
To move with the sound of rustling dresses. intransitive, uncommon
"“Oh, you funny girl! You look so surprised. Confess, now, there's nothing you can hide from me,” and ruffling my hair as she passed she frou-froued out of the room."

Adjective

1
Liable to create the sound of rustling cloth, similar to 19th-century dresses.
2
Highly ornamented, overly elaborate; excessively girly.
"They ate in a frou-frou restaurant at the top of a skyscraper."
3
Unimportant, silly, useless. derogatory
"Bob was off faffing about doing frou-frou nonsense whilst Edwina kept her nose to the grindstone."

"The modern frou-frou of satin and gros-de-Naples skirts is nothing to the rustling of brocaded silks."

Borrowed from French frou-frou, an onomatopoeia.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.