chiffonner

French

Etymology

From chiffon +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃi.fɔ.ne/

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Verb

chiffonner

1. (transitive) to crumple, crease
2. (transitive, colloquial) to bother, to perplex

   Il y a quelque chose qui me chiffonne dans cette affaire. ― Something bothers me about this whole affair.

   • 1857, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary […] ‎, Paris: Michel Lévy Frères:

     — Laisse-moi! dit-elle, tu me chiffonnes.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

Conjugation of chiffonner (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	chiffonner
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	chiffonnant /ʃi.fɔ.nɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		chiffonné /ʃi.fɔ.ne/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	chiffonne /ʃi.fɔn/	chiffonnes /ʃi.fɔn/	chiffonne /ʃi.fɔn/	chiffonnons /ʃi.fɔ.nɔ̃/	chiffonnez /ʃi.fɔ.ne/	chiffonnent /ʃi.fɔn/
	imperfect	chiffonnais /ʃi.fɔ.nɛ/	chiffonnais /ʃi.fɔ.nɛ/	chiffonnait /ʃi.fɔ.nɛ/	chiffonnions /ʃi.fɔ.njɔ̃/	chiffonniez /ʃi.fɔ.nje/	chiffonnaient /ʃi.fɔ.nɛ/
	past historic2	chiffonnai /ʃi.fɔ.ne/	chiffonnas /ʃi.fɔ.na/	chiffonna /ʃi.fɔ.na/	chiffonnâmes /ʃi.fɔ.nam/	chiffonnâtes /ʃi.fɔ.nat/	chiffonnèrent /ʃi.fɔ.nɛʁ/
	future	chiffonnerai /ʃi.fɔn.ʁe/	chiffonneras /ʃi.fɔn.ʁa/	chiffonnera /ʃi.fɔn.ʁa/	chiffonnerons /ʃi.fɔn.ʁɔ̃/	chiffonnerez /ʃi.fɔn.ʁe/	chiffonneront /ʃi.fɔn.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	chiffonnerais /ʃi.fɔn.ʁɛ/	chiffonnerais /ʃi.fɔn.ʁɛ/	chiffonnerait /ʃi.fɔn.ʁɛ/	chiffonnerions /ʃi.fɔ.nə.ʁjɔ̃/	chiffonneriez /ʃi.fɔ.nə.ʁje/	chiffonneraient /ʃi.fɔn.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	chiffonne /ʃi.fɔn/	chiffonnes /ʃi.fɔn/	chiffonne /ʃi.fɔn/	chiffonnions /ʃi.fɔ.njɔ̃/	chiffonniez /ʃi.fɔ.nje/	chiffonnent /ʃi.fɔn/
	imperfect2	chiffonnasse /ʃi.fɔ.nas/	chiffonnasses /ʃi.fɔ.nas/	chiffonnât /ʃi.fɔ.na/	chiffonnassions /ʃi.fɔ.na.sjɔ̃/	chiffonnassiez /ʃi.fɔ.na.sje/	chiffonnassent /ʃi.fɔ.nas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	chiffonne /ʃi.fɔn/	—	chiffonnons /ʃi.fɔ.nɔ̃/	chiffonnez /ʃi.fɔ.ne/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Further reading

• “chiffonner”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Norman

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

chiffonner

1. (Jersey) to dust

Derived terms

• chiffonnage (“swindle”)