bel esprit
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bel esprit
First recorded in 1630–40; French: literally, “fine mind, wittiness”
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.
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
"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 Thackeray, William Makepeace
A bel esprit, who whispered "Fame," And shook my card-house to the ground.
From The Poems of Schiller — Second period by Schiller, Friedrich
Well might the weary courtiers cry out against les galeres du bel esprit.
From The Women of the French Salons by Mason, Amelia Ruth Gere
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.
