après moi le déluge

American  

[a-pre mwa luh dey-lyzh] / a prɛ ˈmwa lə deɪˈlüʒ /

French.

1. after me, the deluge (attributed to Louis XV, adapted from après nous le déluge “after us the deluge,” credited to Madame de Pompadour: said in reference to signs of the approaching Revolution).

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Example Sentences

An optimistic reading of the king’s famous motto — après moi le déluge — refers to what will be, with any luck, a deluge of terrific films.

From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2023

A third, darker pandemic effect was a kind of fatalism, an après moi le déluge attitude festered in months of loneliness, as well as constant news of death and disease.

From New York Times • Jan. 12, 2022

Walpole regarded these symptoms in the true epicurean spirit, and would have joined in the sentiment, après moi le déluge.

From Hours in a Library, Volume I. (of III.) by Stephen, Leslie, Sir