What does “être à l’affût” mean in French?
Des habitants en rondes contre les incendies
B1 French listening practice · French from France · Curated for intermediate learners
Être à l’affût means to be on the lookout, watching and ready to act. An affût is a hunter’s hide, the spot where you wait quietly for game to come by. The phrase keeps that sense of patient, alert waiting: être à l’affût d’une bonne affaire is “to be on the lookout for a bargain.” It’s common in news and everyday speech.
The usual pattern is à l’affût de + a noun: à l’affût des nouveautés, à l’affût du moindre bruit. In this report, residents whose homes survived a wildfire run night patrols (des rondes) in two-hour shifts, and one says on sera toujours à l’affût, “we’ll always be on the lookout.” His full sentence, à l’affût de surveiller nos maisons, is spoken French; written French would say à l’affût pour surveiller or keep the noun.
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Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · Lexique 3.83 (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.