bel esprit

[ bel es-pree ]

/ bɛl ɛsˈpri /

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noun, plural beaux es·prits

[boh zes-pree]. /boʊ zɛsˈpri/. French.

a person of great wit or intellect: He found this charming bel esprit, not among his university colleagues, but in the person of a young widow on the outskirts of town.

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Sometimes bel-es·prit .

Origin of bel esprit

First recorded in 1630–40; French: literally, “fine mind, wittiness”

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

How to use bel esprit in a sentence

What we commonly understand in French by "esprit," "bel-esprit," "trait d'esprit," are—ingenious thoughts.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 10 (of 10)|Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
One evening he took me with him to a literary renion, at which every bel-esprit of the capital was to be present.
Continental Monthly, Vol. I, No. V, May, 1862|Various
Madame de Pompadour joked my companion about her 'bel-esprit', but sometimes she reposed confidence in her.
The Secret Memoirs of Louis XV./XVI, Complete|Madame du Hausset, an "Unknown English Girl" and the Princess Lamballe
There was the blue-stocking lady, a mature belle and bel-esprit.
Life Without and Life Within|Margaret Fuller

Well might the weary courtiers cry out against les galeres du bel esprit.
The Women of the French Salons|Amelia Gere Mason

British Dictionary definitions for bel esprit

bel esprit

/ French (bɛl ɛspri) /

noun plural beaux esprits (boz ɛspri)

a witty or clever person

Word Origin for bel esprit

literally: fine wit

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