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Glite Dictionary
French leave

French leave

1 8.9
Going away from a place without telling or asking anyone
  • idiom
  • UK
translation icon : salida francesa
  • Set to take "French leave"—if he only had somewhere to go—D'Cey glanced at the doorway leading to the courtyard.
  • take French leave

Examples

  • She took French leave from the party without saying goodbye to anyone.

  • After realizing he would be late, he decided to take French leave and slip out unnoticed.

  • Feeling overwhelmed at work, he abruptly took French leave to avoid the stress.

Synonyms

desertion
vsFrench leave
20 6.2

Leaving someone, a place, or a duty when you should stay to help

is a sudden unauthorized exit that is not necessarily long-term abandonment
absence without leave
vsFrench leave
  • Formal
7.3

A person who is away from military duty without permission

is an abrupt unannounced departure not tied to official duty

Antonyms

to stay
∞ 1.0

To remain in one place and not leave

Surface Forms

French leave singular
French leaves plural

Morphology

French + leave

The sense ‘to depart without permission or notice’ cannot be derived from the literal constituents: 'French' (relating to France) and 'leave' (departure/permission). The phrase is historically and culturally idiomatic, so a B1 learner who knows the words would not reliably infer the idiomatic meaning; cross-linguistic equivalents exist but the logic is not transparently compositional.

Etymology

French leave may come from an old joke: people said that the French would quietly take leave from a party without saying goodbye. That's why the phrase now means 'to leave without permission or notice'.