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• double entendre
  double entendre

  noun

  a double meaning.
• double-entendre
  double-entendre

  A word or expression that has two different meanings (in French, double-entendre means “double meaning”), one of which is often bawdy or indelicate. A double-entendre is found in this sentence: “A nudist camp is simply a place where men and women meet to air their differences.”

double entendre

American  

[duhb-uhl ahn-tahn-druh, -tahnd, doo-blahn-tahn-dr^uh] / ˈdʌb əl ɑnˈtɑn drə, -ˈtɑnd, du blɑ̃ˈtɑ̃ drə /

noun

• double entendres
  plural

1. a double meaning.

2. a word or expression used in a given context so that it can be understood in two ways, especially when one meaning is risqué.

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double entendre British  

/ dubl ɑ̃tɑ̃drə, ˈdʌbəl ɑːnˈtɑːndrə, -ˈtɑːnd /

noun

1. a word, phrase, etc, that can be interpreted in two ways, esp one having one meaning that is indelicate

2. the type of humour that depends upon such ambiguity

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double-entendre Cultural  

1. A word or expression that has two different meanings (in French, double-entendre means “double meaning”), one of which is often bawdy or indelicate. A double-entendre is found in this sentence: “A nudist camp is simply a place where men and women meet to air their differences.”

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Usage

What else does double entendre mean? A double entendre is a word or expression that can be understood in two ways, especially when one meaning is risqué. If you've ever cracked a that's what she said joke, you've created a double entendre.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• double entendres
  plural

Etymology

Origin of double entendre

From obsolete French, dating back to 1665–75; see origin at double, intend

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

double entendre double-entendre

Hoping to give her blessing and her mother’s wedding ring to her son — “The Family Stone” remains a very clever double entendre — Sybil’s plans are quickly thwarted by this realization.

From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2025

“Bab’s Uvula”: This first-season skit is filled with the kind of double entendre and quick wit that carved a path for the best of “SNL’s” skits.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2024

“I mean, it has to fit with secular society. It’s got to have some double entendre about the Gospel.”

From Washington Times ● Aug. 18, 2023

The title, “I Swear,” is a double entendre that will be immediately recognizable to aficionados of the representative’s salty style.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 5, 2023

Afterward, they regroup in the living room for board games and goofy improvisation contests, all free of profanity and even double entendre.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

The double-entendre headline, for Pete and Chasten Buttigieg, is "First Family."

From Fox News ● May 3, 2019

Early protesters appeared, symbolically, on the Tehran thoroughfare renamed for the country’s revolution, in 1979, adding a subtle double-entendre to the new women’s crusade.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 14, 2018

The “A. Ham” double-entendre is irresistible, especially for those who work in New York theater.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2017

A mock-up package provided by Battaglia boasts it contains four “puros rollos” — a double-entendre that literally means “pure rolls” but can also be understood as “pure nonsense.”

From Seattle Times ● May 31, 2017

It was not a double-entendre, but a mot of triple ambiguity.

From The Scalp Hunters by F.A. Stewart

Related Words

• innuendo
• pun