How do you say “Rack your brain” in French?
The closest natural French equivalent is se creuser la tête, which literally means “to dig into one's head”. English speakers use rack your brain to mean to think very hard while trying to remember or solve something. A familiar match for a determined search for an idea or answer. Register: informal. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural French
se creuser la tête
/sə kʁøze la tɛt/
- Literal meaning
- “to dig into one's head”
- Register
- informal
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
98 out of 100
What a native French speaker would actually say
French pictures digging into your head to find an answer. It fits memories, difficult questions and creative ideas.
“Je me suis creusé la tête” describes the effort, not the result. You can follow it with “mais je n'ai rien trouvé” if no answer came.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone5 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity3 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
In context
English
I racked my brain trying to remember his name.
French
Je me suis creusé la tête pour retrouver son nom.
English
We've been racking our brains over a name for the café.
French
Nous nous creusons la tête depuis un moment pour trouver un nom au café.
Related expressions
Last updated 2026-09-19