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belles-lettres

American  
[bel-le-truh] / bɛlˈlɛ trə /

plural noun

  1. literature regarded as a fine art, especially as having a purely aesthetic function.

  2. light and elegant literature, especially that which is excessively refined, characterized by aestheticism, and minor in subject, substance, or scope.

belles-lettres British  
/ bɛllɛtrə /

noun

  1. (functioning as singular) literary works, esp essays and poetry, valued for their aesthetic rather than their informative or moral content

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See literature.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of belles-lettres

1700–10; from French: literally, “fine letters.” See belle, letter 1

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.

Low amid that glad Belles lettres    Grant that we may stand, Stars, amid profound Galaxies,    At that grand 'Right hand'!

From Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete by Dickinson, Emily

Low amid that glad Belles lettres   Grant that we may stand, Stars, amid profound Galaxies,   At that grand 'Right hand'!

From Poems by Emily Dickinson, Third Series by Todd, Mabel Loomis

Belles lettres, Fine Art are odious terms, for which no clean-thinking man has any use.

From On The Art of Reading by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir

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.