B1 is the level where French stops being a classroom subject and starts being your tool for real life. You’re past ordering café and asking directions-now you want to explain why a film moved you, share a weekend memory, or politely complain about the train delay without freezing. This CEFR-aligned DELF B1 French Vocabulary list is built exactly for that messy, exciting in‑between stage.
We’ve gathered around 1990 practical words you’ll meet on the exam and in actual conversations-no dusty textbook relics. Every entry gives you a clear meaning, a natural example sentence that shows the word in the wild, and audio playback so you can nail the pronunciation. When you’re ready to study offline, the free PDF download is waiting below the table.
If this topic helped, explore more in our French learning section. it’s the easiest way to keep building related vocabulary without jumping around the web.
Quick Quiz
Think you’ve locked a few of these into memory? Give the quiz below a go-it’s a low‑pressure way to spot which words still need a little love.
Browse the Full List
| Word | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| dernièrement | Verb | lately, recently |
| désagréable | Adjective | disagreeable, distasteful, unpleasant, nasty |
| désastre | Noun | disaster, catastrophe |
| descente | Noun | descent |
| désespéré | Adjective | desperate, hopeless |
| désordre | Noun | disorder, confusion, disarray, chaos |
| dessert | Noun | dessert, sweet |
| dessin | Noun | drawing, design, draught, picture |
| dessous | Verb | below, beneath, underneath |
| destin | Noun | destiny, fate |
| détective | Noun | detective |
| détendre | Verb | relax |
| détention | Noun | detention |
| déterminer | Verb | determine |
| détester | Verb | detest, hate, abhor, abominate, loathe, dislike |
| détresse | Noun | distress |
| dette | Noun | debt |
| deuil | Noun | mourning, grief |
| deuxième | Adjective | second |
| développement | Noun | development |
| développer | Verb | develop |
| diamant | Noun | diamond |
| Diane | Noun | Diana |
| diane | Noun | reveille |
| différemment | Verb | differently |
