beau ideal

See synonyms for beau ideal on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural beaus ideal, beaux ideal for 1; beau ideals for 2.

a conception of perfect beauty.
a model of excellence.

Origin of beau ideal

First recorded in 1795–1805, beau ideal is from French beau idéal literally, “ideal beauty.” See beau, ideal

Words Nearby beau ideal

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

How to use beau ideal in a sentence

But that just made Summer more enticing, an unobtainable beau ideal.
Our Doomed Love Affair with Summer | P. J. O’Rourke | August 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The landlady came; a fit spirit to rule over such a domain—the beau-ideal of tidiness and good humour.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol 58, No. 357, July 1845 | Various
Nothing too much; nothing lacking—just the beau-ideal of a bachelor's parlor.
The Diamond Coterie | Lawrence L. Lynch
He was well qualified for a hero of romance, or a woman's beau-ideal.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 62, No. 384, October 1847 | Various
This prince of the seventeenth century was the beau-ideal decadent that many modern novelists have delighted to depict.
Court Beauties of Old Whitehall | W. R. H. Trowbridge

He seemed to me the beau ideal of a country gentleman: nothing less than this, and something more.
The Late Miss Hollingford | Rosa Mulholland

British Dictionary definitions for beau idéal

beau idéal

/ French (bo ideal) /

nounplural beaux idéals (boz ideal)

perfect beauty or excellence

Origin of beau idéal

literally: ideal beauty

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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