# Sulfureux



## tiberge

I frequently see the word "sulfureux" used in everyday writing at the French websites. I know it's a chemical term, but they do not use it that way. The figurative meaning isn't clear to me. Does it mean "shady", as in a "shady" deal, or dishonest, or sordid, or immoral? Or something completely different?

Any assistance is welcome.


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## Gil

In Le Petit Robert


> 4¨ Fig. et littér. Qui rappelle le démon, l'enfer, qui sent le soufre. Un personnage sulfureux.


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## tiberge

To Gil,

Thank you. My edition of Le Petit Robert is probably much older than yours - it only gave the chemical meanings.

So "demonic" could be a translation of the word. Possibly "heretical".


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## Gil

Context would help us decide


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## bitchubitchi

Hello

I would like to know how to qualify someone as "sulfureux" in English.
This person has a strong personality, possibly triggers controversy, there is always a "buzz" around him if I may say ...

Thank you


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## Quaeitur

has a shady reputation?


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## bitchubitchi

To the question" Has he got a shady reputation",Not to my knowledge, in fact, this adjective was taken from an article about the big boss of Ryan Air, the low cost airline


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## Outsider

A fiery/fearsome personality?


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## Dr. Baha'i

A volatile personality?
Another useful expression, which doesn't exactly fit your need here that I can see, is "a volcanic temper."


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## Dr. Baha'i

I would avoid "nefarious," which is in effect a statement about his proven criminality. 

It would go over the heads of many readers, but you could say, "he has the smell of sulfur about him," though I suppose that might run the risk of having some people think it meant "he smells of rotten eggs."

"There's something about him that doesn't quite seem on the level."


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## Micia93

Dr. Baha'i said:


> I would avoid "nefarious," which is in effect a statement about his proven criminality.
> 
> It would go over the heads of many readers, but you could say, "he has the smell of sulfur about him," though I suppose that might run the risk of having some people think it meant "he smells of rotten eggs."
> 
> "There's something about him that doesn't quite seem on the level."


 

would "sleazy" or "murky" fit ? or aren't they strong enough ?


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## Quaeitur

The word has been escaping all day, and it finaly came back to me!! It's _*infamous *_

*The infamous Mr. X *


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## Micia93

Quaeitur said:


> The word has been escaping all day, and it finaly came back to me!! It's _*infamous *_
> 
> *The infamous Mr. X *


 
isn't that one too strong Quaitur ? 
it seems the guy has proven guilty, as said before


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## Dr. Baha'i

"Infamous" is a much-used word, and one of my linguistic rear-guard campaigns is to discourage its use. To me, it is the adjectival form of "infamy," which means "treachery," so "infamous" should reasonably mean "treacherous."

I prefer "notorious," which means "much discussed, but usually not in favorable terms." It has a negative connotation which I believe "notoire" lacks.

Maybe I should read up on Ryan Air's boss in order to have a clearer idea about him. 

"Murky" means many significant details about his life are unclear. "He has a shady reputation" is close to saying that he is known to have ties with the Mafia or other criminal enterprises.

Other terms you might consider are "impetuous," "abrasive," "visionary," "_enfant terrible_," "gambler," "volcanic" (as I said before), etc., etc.


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## genevaCH

Dr. Baha'i said:


> I like "murky."
> 
> "Infamous" is a much-used word, and one of my linguistic rear-guard campaigns is to discourage its use. To me, it is the adjectival form of "infamy," which means "treachery," so "infamous" should reasonably mean "treacherous."
> 
> I prefer "notorious," which means "much discussed, but usually not in favorable terms." It has a negative connotation which I believe "notoire" lacks.



Pour rebondir, "notoire" est souvent employé d'une manière qui le rend négatif aussi en français : un alcoolique notoire, un coureur de jupons notoire, par exemple. Same connotations as in English.


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## mgarizona

Can any francophone explain this attenuated use of _sulfureux_, with appreciable examples? Because the definitions of the word as offered in the dictionaries I've looked at suggest nothing that would apply in the manner bitchu suggests.


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## Micia93

for instance, Madonna has a "sulfureuse" reputation, despite her talent
I think it's often linked with sexual connotation !


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## mgarizona

I see, I think I get the picture now.

There's no adjective form, but I'd suggest you could label such people *firebrands*.

Has the added bonus of having originally suggested the infernal--- 'firebrands of hell' was the expression--- but now just means someone likely to stir up trouble or, in the OED's words, "inflame the passions."


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## Dr. Baha'i

"Firebrand" is a good word, usually used for demagogues. Hitler and Che Guevara have the reputation of being "firebrands."

A firebrand risks burning down the barn in which he's speaking to the foule enragée.

Does nobody else like "volatile"? To me it suggests always on the point of boiling (over). Or "impetuous"? 

It's amazing that we seem not to have hit this nail squarely on the head yet.


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## Micia93

well "volatil" has not at all the same meaning ; it's closer to "fickle, inconsistant, flighty" (volage)


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## Quaeitur

I obviously don't understand the original sentence the way you do Dr. Baha'i. For me, it just means _*the much-talked about, the famous Mr. X.*_ I suggested _*infamous *_earlier because that word has been used quite a lot lately in a rather positive way to talk about people who succeeded in their business (which means a bit of ruthlessness was involved).


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## mgarizona

In English too ... 'flighty.' ... Ultimately 'volatile' just means 'readily subject to change.' A volatile situation. ... Applied to people too, a volatile personality doesn't have a fixed m.o. but may seem any which way depending on the moment.


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## Dr. Baha'i

"Stormy"? "Tumultuous"? "Meteoric"?

In light of the most recent postings, I'm thinking in terms of "the meteoric success of a young tycoon."

As to "volatile personality": I think such a person is one who is liable to fly into a rage, etc., without warning.


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## Dr. Baha'i

Yet another term for someone who gets things going is a "spark plug."


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## bitchubitchi

To give you a hint about "sulfureux", check the interview of ryan air 's boss on "Rue89", the interview is in English translated in German


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## Already-Seen

Sometimes we use the word "sulfureux" to mean "*controversial*".



> for instance, Madonna has a "sulfureuse" reputation, despite her talent
> I think it's often linked with sexual connotation !


I agree with Micia93, sulfureux definitely has sexual connotations. In some instances, it could be translated by "*racy*".

From the article mentioned:


> Dans un souci de diversification et dans le but d'acquérir des clients plus fortunés, l'entreprise a franchi un cap en proposant une formule "Beds and Blowjobs" pour ses vols transatlantiques en classe affaire.
> Une vidéo peut en témoigner : Michael O'Leary, le sulfureux patron irlandais de la compagnie Ryanair a bien prononcé ces paroles.


He's using sex to sell hence the "sulfureux" label.

Collins translates sulfureux by *deliberately inflammatory* if applied to a film, book, speech, etc... They don't have a translation if applied to a person.


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## funnyhat

Dr. Baha'i said:


> "Infamous" is a much-used word, and one of my linguistic rear-guard campaigns is to discourage its use. To me, it is the adjectival form of "infamy," which means "treachery," so "infamous" should reasonably mean "treacherous."


 
Huh? _Infamy_ does not mean "treachery." Are you thinking of _perfidy_?

Merriam-Webster defines "infamy" thusly:

1*:* evil reputation brought about by something grossly criminal, shocking, or brutal
2 a*:* an extreme and publicly known criminal or evil act 
   b*:* the state of being infamous


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## mgarizona

Given the article Already-Seen cites, I'd opt for *salty*.


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## Zyprexa

This is a really interesting word! Like many interesting words, I'm sure it adopts many shades of meaning. Take the English word 'devilish"

He has a *devilish* smile (Brett Thingummy in GWTW)
That's a *devilishly* hard question
He put in motion a plan of the most *devilish* and evil complexity.

What I'm trying to say is that we are trying to find a single, unambiguous meaning for a word that, like "devilish", is quite polyvalent.

In fact, I suggest the word we need is simply: *devilish*.


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## Already-Seen

According to the article, it was not O'Leary's first publicity stunt. In 2007 he had published a racy calendar featuring Ryanair's flight attendants.
I'm still leaning toward the word "controversial" for a translation. It may be more neutral than sulfureux though...


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## Squiggle

Still searching for the perfect translation!

Volatile to me is more unpredictable, could blow up at any time.

My sulphurous is in this context:

L'hotel cultive un sulfureux devoir de mémoire associé au confort et à la modernité

I think I would rather have heard about the bathroom facilities frankly!!


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## bitchubitchi

"L'hotel cultive un sulfureux devoir de mémoire associé au confort et à la modernité"
 
May I suggest to Squiggle that perhaps there is a mistake in this sentence, "sulfureux"just doesn't fit here from my understanding...Perhaps "scrupuleux" is the word that best applies here, which means "scrupulous";in that case, that would be rather good news regarding the bathroom facilities! I'm not 100% certain though since I don't know the context.


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## mattolejack

'*Controversial*' is closest to the French meaning in most journalistic contexts I have seen. Occasionally, '*infamous*' and occasionally '*shady*' or '*disreputable*.' There seems to be a range of how strongly negative the meaning is in the original French.


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## Bonjules

Hola,

I  have noted that this term pops up more and more in articles, commentaries etc.
WRD still seems to cover the current use better than anybody else: Gossip provoking, scandalous (one might think of adding scandal-prone/provoking here); inflammatory.
I also -like mattolejack- wonder if 'shady' could be added here and would be interested in other 'francophone' suggestions.
saludos


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