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La Langue: The “Anti-chauffer” Universe — How to Cool Things Down (Without Freezing Your Social Life)

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A friendly deep-dive into French “cooling” verbs: refroidir, rafraîchir, congeler, décongeler, climatiser—plus real-life examples & practice.

Yesterday I explored the chausser verbs dealing with heating up. Now I'm going to look at the opposite, those dealing with cooling things down.

And honestly? This is the vocabulary that saves lives in Provence. (Or at least saves your dignity when you’re standing on a sunny terrace, sweating through your optimism, trying to ask for “something… less hot… in every way.”)

The revelation I didn’t see coming

I walked into this thinking: “Opposite of chauffer = refroidir. Done.”
But French is never “done.” French is a lovingly maintained hedge maze.

What shifted for me was noticing that French has degrees of cooling, each with its own vibe:

  • refroidir = cool down (often noticeably), even “cool someone’s enthusiasm”

  • rafraîchir = refresh / make pleasantly cooler (the word your summer self wants)

  • congeler / geler = freeze (dramatic! sometimes literal, sometimes emotional)

  • plus a whole supporting cast: mettre au frais, réfrigérer, décongeler, aérer, climatiser…

Sensory detail that made it click: that first glass sweating with condensation on a café table—French vocabulary is basically that moment in word form.

And here’s the line I can now say in French that I definitely couldn’t before (without sounding like a malfunctioning toaster):
“Je vais laisser refroidir.” (I’m going to let it cool down.)

1) Refroidir — the big, practical workhorse

Refroidir means “to make cold / to cool down,” and it’s used for food, weather, rooms, even moods.

  • Je refroidis la soupe. (I cool the soup.)

  • Le temps s’est refroidi. (The weather cooled off.)

  • Laisse refroidir avant de… (Let it cool before…)

It also goes figurative in a way that feels very French:

  • Refroidir l’enthousiasme / la passion = dampen enthusiasm/passion (cnrtl.fr)

  • Ça a refroidi l’ambiance. = That cooled the mood. (cnrtl.fr)

✨ Sneaky pitfall: Se refroidir can also mean to catch a chill / get cold (physically)—like your body, not your beverage. (cnrtl.fr)

  • Je me suis refroidi en sortant. (I caught a chill going out.)

So yes: refroidir can cool soup, cool weather, and cool romance. Multitalented. Slightly terrifying.

2) Rafraîchir — cooling, but make it pleasant

If refroidir is “cool down,” then rafraîchir is “refresh,” like a breeze that feels like a compliment.

Larousse’s core idea is exactly that: “rendre frais ou plus frais” (make fresh/cooler). (Larousse)

  • Le vent rafraîchit l’air. (The wind cools/refreshes the air.) (Larousse)

  • Je vais me rafraîchir. (I’m going to freshen up / cool off.) (Larousse)

  • Une boisson rafraîchissante (a refreshing drink)

And then French does that French thing where one word quietly becomes three lives:

  • Rafraîchir les couleurs = touch up / revive colors

  • Rafraîchir la mémoire = jog someone’s memory (Larousse)

So in one verb you get: summer breeze, face splash, paint restoration, and polite shade. Efficient language. Very rude to learners.

3) Mettre au frais — the everyday fridge life

This is one of the most useful “cooling” phrases because it’s what you actually do with food and drinks.

  • Je le mets au frais. = I’ll put it somewhere cool (usually the fridge).

  • Mets ça au frigo / au congélo = casual, spoken shortcuts

It’s also one of those phrases that makes you sound instantly more local—like you’ve been quietly storing cheese correctly for years.

4) Geler / Congeler / Surgeler — freezing: the dramatic trilogy

Congeler (to freeze as a process)

Larousse: “opérer la congélation” (to freeze a product). (Larousse)

  • Je congèle la sauce. (I freeze the sauce.)

Also: watch the spelling change (the verb tries to trip you):

  • je congèle / nous congelons (that e/è alternation) (Larousse)

Geler (to freeze, often weather/ice)

  • Il gèle ce matin. (It’s freezing this morning.)

  • La route a gelé. (The road froze.)

Surgeler (deep-freeze / industrial-style)

You’ll see this on packaging: produit surgelé = frozen food (often “flash frozen”).

5) Décongeler / Dégeler — thawing (aka the “oops” verbs)

  • Décongeler = thaw food (what you do in the kitchen)

  • Dégeler = thaw ice / defrost / melt (what nature does, or your freezer does)

Bonus household French you’ll hear in real life:

  • dégivrer = defrost (car windshield, freezer)

  • givre = frost (hello, icy windows)

(And yes, you can absolutely say: “Il faut dégivrer le congélateur.” It’s the sentence of a responsible adult. I’m still practicing.)

6) Glacer — ice, chill, and cake

Glacer is fun because it’s both delicious and slightly ominous.

  • Glacer un gâteau = ice a cake (frosting/glaze)

  • Glacer une boisson = chill it with ice

  • Ça me glace. = That sends a chill down my spine (figurative)

French loves a word that can do dessert and existential dread.

7) Climatiser / la clim — the indoor survival system

Larousse keeps it simple: climatiser = assurer la climatisation (air-condition a place). (Larousse)

  • C’est climatisé ? (Is it air-conditioned?)

  • On met la clim ? (Shall we turn on the AC?)

And if you don’t have AC (or you’re doing that very French thing where you refuse to turn it on out of principle), you’ll lean on:

  • Aérer = air out

  • Ventiler = ventilate

  • Faire un courant d’air = create a draft (a sacred Provençal ritual)

8) Cooling as a social skill: “Don’t refroidir the room”

This might be the most Étranger Things moment of all: you learn cooling verbs… and suddenly realize French uses them to talk about people constantly.

CNRTL and Académie both show the figurative use clearly: cooling enthusiasm, passions, action, interest. (cnrtl.fr)

  • Il m’a refroidi. (He put me off / cooled me on the idea.)

  • Ça refroidit l’ambiance. (That kills the vibe.)

Which means: the opposite of chauffer isn’t only temperature—it’s also energy.
French has a thermostat for emotions. And yes, I keep accidentally bumping it.

A quick “temperature ladder” you can steal

  • brûlant (burning hot)

  • chaud (hot/warm)

  • tiède (lukewarm)

  • frais (cool/pleasant)

  • froid (cold)

  • glacé (icy)

And if you want a verb for “become lukewarm/cool a bit”: tiédir shows up as a cousin in the “cooling” family (CNRTL even lists it among synonyms around refroidir). (cnrtl.fr)

Tiny practice corner (all levels welcome, zero judgment)

A1 tips (survival phrases)

Try these three and you’re basically unstoppable:

  • C’est chaud ? (Is it hot?)

  • Je laisse refroidir. (I’ll let it cool.)

  • Je le mets au frais. (I’ll put it in the fridge.)

A2 tips (choose the right “cool”)

Pick the best verb:

  1. “The wind is making the air nicer.” → rafraîchir

  2. “Let the soup cool before eating.” → refroidir

  3. “I’m freezing the sauce.” → congeler

B1 tips (go figurative without being dramatic)

Write one sentence with:

  • refroidir l’ambiance or refroidir l’enthousiasme

B2 tips (sound natural, not translated)

Try a mini-dialogue:

  • — Tu veux un café ?

  • — Oui, mais je vais le laisser refroidir un peu.
    Add: “Sinon, je me brûle.” (Otherwise I’ll burn myself.)

Advanced tips (register + nuance)

Use rafraîchir in one of its non-temperature meanings:

  • rafraîchir la mémoire

  • rafraîchir les couleurs
    …and tell us in the comments where you heard it first (TV? admin office? a friend politely roasting you?).

A small curated link corner (for the word nerds)

If you want “official” definitions and examples, these are great rabbit holes:

  • CNRTL on refroidir (including figurative uses) (cnrtl.fr)

  • Larousse on rafraîchir (and its other meanings) (Larousse)

  • Larousse on congeler (plus the conjugation trap) (Larousse)

  • Larousse on climatiser / climatisation (Larousse)

Your turn (comment section roll-call 👇)

Tell us one of these (or all, because we’re nosy in a friendly way):

  1. What’s your most-used “cooling” word in France—refroidir or rafraîchir—and why?

  2. Have you ever accidentally used a freezing word (congeler, glacer) in a totally normal conversation and made it sound like a crime novel?

  3. Drop one sentence at your level (A1 / A2 / B1 / B2 / Advanced). I’ll reply with a tiny tweak to make it sound more natural—promise I won’t refroidir l’ambiance.

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