Dictionary / To kiss
How to Say "To kiss" in French
Embrasser
/ɑ̃.bʁa.se/
Literally: To take in one's arms
embrasser
to kiss
Good to know
Embrasser is the ordinary verb and is safe in every register. Faire la bise is something else entirely: the cheek-touch greeting between friends and family, which is a social ritual rather than a kiss. Un baiser as a noun is a perfectly good, slightly literary word for a kiss. It is only the verb that is the problem.
Correct
Embrasser
What people say wrong
Baiser (used as a verb)
vulgar slang for to have sex
The mistake to avoid. Every glossary lists baiser as to kiss, and in nineteenth-century French it was. In modern French the verb is crude slang for having sex, and it has been for long enough that no native speaker will read it any other way. The noun survived and the verb did not, which is why un baiser is romantic and je veux te baiser is not something you can say to anyone. Use embrasser for the verb, every time.
In context
Il l'a embrassée sur la joue.
He kissed her on the cheek.
Elle m'a envoyé un baiser.
She blew me a kiss.
On se fait la bise ?
Shall we do the cheek-kiss greeting?