bel esprit

American  

[bel es-pree] / bɛl ɛsˈpri /

Sometimes bel-esprit

noun

French.

• beaux esprits
  plural

1. 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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bel esprit British  

/ bɛl ɛspri /

noun

1. a witty or clever person

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• beaux esprits
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of bel esprit

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bel esprit

The remnants beyond the threshold were from an estate that belonged to George Bucknam Dorr, a Boston lawyer, philanthropist, trail builder, bel esprit and a founder of Acadia National Park.

From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 2014

Do you want to play the bel esprit, my dear good woman?

From Memoirs and Historical Chronicles of the Courts of Europe Marguerite de Valois, Madame de Pompadour, and Catherine de Medici by Various

Bussy-Rabutin was handsome, witty, brilliant, a bel esprit, a member of the Academie Francaise, and very much in love with his charming cousin, who clearly appreciated his talents, if not his character.

From The Women of the French Salons by Amelia Ruth Gere Mason

Well might the weary courtiers cry out against les galeres du bel esprit.

From The Women of the French Salons by Amelia Ruth Gere Mason

"Ah, bah!" said Poinsinet, who affected the bel esprit; "you don't mean to say that you believe in magic, and cabalas, and such trash?"

From The Paris Sketch Book by William Makepeace Thackeray

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