mot juste
Americannoun
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mots justes
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Gainsbourg is bilingual, but French is her first language; she pauses occasionally in our conversation to search around for le mot juste.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 26, 2019
In January, when PhD students jostle for jobs at the annual meeting of the American Economic Association, a “market” might seem the mot juste.
From Economist ● Nov. 24, 2016
Searching, like Flaubert, for le seul mot juste, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. offered “tawdry” and “distasteful” to describe McDonnell’s behavior.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 1, 2016
Certainly, few actors have been more expert at the smoothing of feathers, or had more of a knack for the mot juste.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 9, 2014
The arrogance of the vulgar, the—the uninstructed—perhaps I lack the mot juste, but quand même—the mansuetude of the loftier mind.
From The Highwayman by H. C. (Henry Christopher) Bailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
