Frenchify

American  

[fren-chuh-fahy] / ˈfrɛn tʃəˌfaɪ /

verb (used with object)

(often lowercase)

Frenchified, Frenchifying

1. to make (something or someone) resemble the French, as in manners, customs, or dress.

   to Frenchify the spelling of one's name.

---

Frenchify British  

/ ˈfrɛntʃɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. informal to make or become French in appearance, behaviour, etc

---

Other Word Forms

• Frenchification
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Frenchify

First recorded in 1585–95; French + -ify

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Frenchify Frenchified Frenchifying

Vermont may share a border with Quebec, but resist the urge to Frenchify the name of this local summer staple.

From New York Times ● Aug. 19, 2015

Italians are proud of their traditional cuisine and are particularly roiled by the notion that some ambitious local chefs are trying to Frenchify their food.

From Time Magazine Archive

"So you have Frenchified Dick's name, have you!" said the old gentleman, "but I'm determined you shall not Frenchify Sam's."

From Pencil Sketches or, Outlines of Character and Manners by Leslie, Eliza

I am extremely pleased, for I confess that I think it no easy task to Frenchify your works in your sense.

From Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt — Volume 2 by Hueffer, Francis

They retained the u in the name, which most others, like the captain's descendants, laid aside; as Bonaparte did during his triumphant campaign in Italy, in order to un-Italianise and Frenchify his patronymic Buonaparte.

From Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 107, November 15, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Various

One Frenchified version was loaded with gingerbread, a cookie often served with an espresso at cafes.

From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2023

The room seems less Americana than subtly, futuristically Frenchified, with slender brass arms holding glass bar shelves and a flock of matching, stylized birds flying across the opposite wall.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 10, 2019

McGovern and I spoke at length in a Frenchified sitting room at the Metropol Hotel, famed seat of the Bolshevik government for a couple of years after the 1917 revolution.

From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2016

Samba lives with his uncle, who’s serious-minded, has legal status and is so Frenchified that he sends his incarcerated nephew a homemade lime-basil macaron.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 29, 2015

A Frenchified shotgun house, it sported a magnificent garden in the back and a tiny wrought-iron fence in the front.

From "Sula" by Toni Morrison

He blamed this on their children being brought up learning French, and on “uplandish men” – peasants, in other words – trying to make themselves look good by Frenchifying their speech.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 6, 2019

Frenchifying it to a bonbon sauterelle could help the grasshopper bonbon hop off shelves.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 28, 2014

It was around that time that he started Frenchifying his name.

From New York Times ● Jan. 4, 2012

Prosperity was rapidly breaking the chains of American Puritanism, rapidly "Frenchifying" the country, and the East Side was quick to fall into line The band was again playing with might and main.

From The Rise of David Levinsky by Cahan, Abraham