seum
SUHMnounInformal
A French slang term. Browse all French slang.
What it means
Bitterness, rage, the sting of a defeat. Avoir le seum is to be gutted and furious at once — there is no single English word for it.
Examples with translations
J'ai le seum, on a perdu en finale.
I'm sick about it, we lost in the final.
Ça lui a mis le seum.
That really got to him.
Where it comes from
From Arabic sèmm, 'poison'. The metaphor is exact: bitterness as something toxic you have swallowed.