belles-lettres
literature regarded as a fine art, especially as having a purely aesthetic function.
light and elegant literature, especially that which is excessively refined, characterized by aestheticism, and minor in subject, substance, or scope.
Origin of belles-lettres
1synonym study For belles-lettres
Other words from belles-lettres
- bel·let·rist [bel-le-trist], /bɛlˈlɛ trɪst/, noun
- bel·let·ris·tic [bel-li-tris-tik], /ˌbɛl lɪˈtrɪs tɪk/, adjective
Words Nearby belles-lettres
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use belles-lettres in a sentence
Charles de la Rue, a French Jesuit, died; distinguished as an orator and poet and a professor of belles-lettres.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellThere are usually three lectures daily; the first on sciences, and the other two on belles lettres.
In a single department of belles-lettres he had shown mastery.
Washington Irving | Henry W. BoyntonAmong his contributors of belles lettres we find the names of the authors just mentioned, and also several others.
They consequently reflect, like the belles lettres, the conditions under which the Jews are laboring.
British Dictionary definitions for belles-lettres
/ (French bɛllɛtrə) /
(functioning as singular) literary works, esp essays and poetry, valued for their aesthetic rather than their informative or moral content
Origin of belles-lettres
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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