How do you say “In a pickle” in French?
The closest natural French equivalent is être dans le pétrin, which literally means “to be in the kneading trough”. English speakers use in a pickle to mean to be in a difficult or awkward situation. An informal French match for being in trouble or a difficult mess. It keeps the colourful tone without the pickle image. Register: informal. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural French
être dans le pétrin
/ɛtʁ dɑ̃ lə petʁɛ̃/
- Literal meaning
- “to be in the kneading trough”
- Register
- informal
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
95 out of 100
What a native French speaker would actually say
A “pétrin” is a container used for kneading dough. In this expression, it is the awkward situation you cannot easily get out of.
“Je suis dans le pétrin” works for practical trouble such as losing keys. It can also describe a much bigger problem; the sentence sets the scale.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone5 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity2 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
In context
English
I’m in a pickle: I’ve locked myself out and my phone is inside.
French
Je suis dans le pétrin : je ne peux plus rentrer chez moi et mon téléphone est à l’intérieur.
English
We were in a pickle when both babysitters cancelled.
French
Nous étions dans le pétrin quand les deux baby-sitters ont annulé.
Related expressions
- What “In a pickle” means in English
- Between a rock and a hard place, Caught between two bad choices.
Last updated 2026-11-13