effondré

Effondré is a French adjective and past participle meaning “collapsed,” “dismayed,” or “defeated.” It is often used to describe physical structures that have collapsed, such as buildings or bridges, but it can also be applied figuratively to a person's emotional state or to a situation that has fallen apart.

Etymologically, the word comes from the French verb effondrer (to collapse, to bring down). The noun form, effondrement, denotes the act or process of collapsing. The past participle, effondré, agrees with the subject in gender and number: un bâtiment effondré, une structure effondrée, des locations effondrées.

In everyday speech, effondré is frequently used in expressions such as “être effondré par la nouvelle” (to be devastated by the news) or “le moral des gens était effondré” (the people's morale was shattered). In scientific or engineering contexts, the term may refer to structural failures, as in “un pont effondré après le séisme.” It can also be found in literary descriptions of people’s inner turmoil.

Related terms include démoli (demolished), abîmé (damaged), and bancal (haphazard). In English, the word is typically rendered as collapsed or shattered, but the emotional nuance of “effondré” may also be expressed as devastated or devastated.

Effondré reflects both the literal and metaphorical loss of support or stability, which explains its widespread use across varied domains such as architecture, journalism, psychology, and literature.