Discover the French phrase "C'est n'importe quoi"

You are in the right place to discover everything you want to know about the basic phrase “C’est n’importe quoi”.

Including a detailed guide of what it is and how to use it in a casual conversation with an audio example. And also the cool stuff we added like dialogue example, slow pronunciation audio, synonyms and more!

If you want, you will also find more of these phrases pages on this page and the list of all our French words content on this page. Wish you a happy learning!

Table of Contents

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French to English

How to pronounce?

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

C'est n'importe quoi meaning

Definition

It literally means:

  • C’est → It is
  • n’importe quoi → Bullshit / Nonsense / Whatever

The expression “C’est n’importe quoi” is commonly used in daily French. Depending on the context, it can mean “It’s nonsense” or “Bullshit” as you will see just below.

How to use it

First scenario: someone says something completely untrue or unrealistic:

  • Mon poisson rouge sait conduire → My gold fish knows how to drive
  • C’est n’importe quoi ! → Bullshit!
 

Second scenario: you are talking about something shameful, shocking or nonsensical:

  • Cette société maltraite les animaux, c’est n’importe quoi ! → This company is mistreating animals, that’s a nonsense/shame!
 

In most cases, you can shorten it by using “N’importe quoi” without “C’est“. The meaning is the same, it just makes it more informal. Same thing for the slang version “C’est n’imp“. 

Synonyms

  • N’importe quoi. (“Bullshit / Nonsense“)
  • C’est n’imp. (“It’s bullshit / nonsense“)(Slang)
  • Ça n’a aucun sens. (“It has no sense“)
  • C’est du délire. (“It’s crazy / delirium / nonsense“)
  • C’est des conneries. (“It’s bullshit“)

Example with audio dialogue

Audio dialogue by French natives

Dialogue audio

Dialogue text

À mon avis, la terre est plate “
” In my opinion, earth is flat “
” C’est n’importe quoi ! “
” That’s bullsh*t! “
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