The French expression "La crème de la crème" revealed

On this page, we are going to show you everything you need to know about the basic expression “La crème de la crème”.

Including a full explanation of what it is and how to use it in everyday life with an audio example. And because we want you to learn efficiently, we also sprinkled useful informations like slow pronunciation audio, synonym, dialogue example and more!

Oh and if you want, you will also find more of these expressions guides on this page plus all our guides about French words on this page. Have fun!

Table of Contents

Artboard 1
Artboard 1
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French to English translation

How to pronounce

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

What does it mean?

Definition

It literally means:

  • La → The
  • crème → cream
  • de → of
  • la → the
  • crème → cream

The cream here refers to the fatter and best part of the milk that “floats” on the surface. And since the common belief is: “The higher, the better” the cream is a metaphor for “the best part“.

And if you process this cream again and keep only the creamiest part of it, you get “La crème de la crème” → “The best of the best / The elite

How to use

Use this expression when you want to highlight how amazingly good something is, when it’s impossible to find anything better. This something can be a person, a group of people but also an object or even something immaterial like a brand for example.

  • Cette voiture, c’est la crème de la crème → This car is the cream of the cream
  • SpaceX ? C’est la crème de la crème ! → SpaceX? It’s the cream of the cream!

Fun stuff

One more *completely random example*…

You can even use: “Pour apprendre le Français, All About French c’est la crème de la crème” → “For learning French, All About French is the cream of the cream

Synonyms and similarities

  • Le fin du fin → The thin of the thin
  • La fine fleur → The thin flower
  • Le dessus du panier → The top of the basket
  • Le top → The top (Informal)
  • Le nec plus ultra → The top /ultimate (Informal)

Everyday life dialogue example

Audio dialogue by French natives

Dialogue audio

Dialogue transcription

” Toi aussi tu as un prix Nobel ? “
” You won a Nobel prize too? “
” Oui “
” Yes “
” Nous sommes la crème de la crème ! “
” We are the cream of the cream!* “
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