beau ideal
Americannoun
plural
beaus ideal, beaux ideal, beau ideals-
a conception of perfect beauty.
-
a model of excellence.
noun
Etymology
Origin of beau ideal
First recorded in 1795–1805, beau ideal is from French beau idéal literally, “ideal beauty.” See beau, ideal
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.
When I ask for his American political beau ideal, he says Alexander Hamilton.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
Their friendship was the beau ideal of warrior comrades.
From Washington Post • Jul. 8, 2022
His birthplace, Urbino, was also that of Raphael, the beau ideal to whom all painters aspired.
From The Guardian • Feb. 16, 2013
Even so, Mr. Romney remains the beau ideal of consulting.
From New York Times • Dec. 11, 2011
The most captious Salamander would have accepted him at a glance as the beau ideal of a prop—a perfect blend of radiating expensiveness and docile timidity.
From The Salamander by Johnson, Owen
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.
