arrière-pensée

[ a-ryer-pahn-sey ]

noun,plural ar·rière-pen·sées

[a-ryer-pahn-sey]. /a ryɛr pɑ̃ˈseɪ/. French.

a mental reservation; hidden motive.

Words Nearby arrière-pensée

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use arrière-pensée in a sentence

There was an arriere pensee here too, born in the minds of northern capitalists.
The Negro in the South | Booker T. Washington
For myself, I am glad now that I never saw the city that was; for I can love the city that is with no arriere pensee.
The Californiacs | Inez Haynes Irwin
Here we have the "Arriere pensee" clue, that is, the clue in mental reservation; and here we meet the axiom.
The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, | Various
A savage will not assist in packing them, for he fears their heels: the Swiss say mules have always an arriere-pensee.
The Art of Travel | Francis Galton
Baroness Dinati was therefore wrong to suspect old Yanski Varhely of any 'arriere-pensee'.
Prince Zilah, Complete | Jules Claretie

British Dictionary definitions for arrière-pensée

arrière-pensée

/ French (arjɛrpɑ̃se) /

noun

an unrevealed thought or intention

Origin of arrière-pensée

C19: literally: behind thought

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

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