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belles-lettres

[ French bel-le-truh ]
/ French bɛlˈlɛ trə /
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See synonyms for: belles-lettres / belletristic / belletrist on Thesaurus.com

plural noun
literature regarded as a fine art, especially as having a purely aesthetic function.
light and elegant literature, especially that which is excessively refined, characterized by aestheticism, and minor in subject, substance, or scope.
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Origin of belles-lettres

1700–10; from French: literally, “fine letters.” See belle, letter1

synonym study for belles-lettres

1. See literature.

OTHER WORDS FROM belles-lettres

bel·let·rist [bel-le-trist], /bɛlˈlɛ trɪst/, nounbel·let·ris·tic [bel-li-tris-tik], /ˌbɛl lɪˈtrɪs tɪk/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use belles-lettres in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for belles-lettres

belles-lettres
/ (French bɛllɛtrə) /

noun
(functioning as singular) literary works, esp essays and poetry, valued for their aesthetic rather than their informative or moral content

Word Origin for belles-lettres

C17: from French: fine letters
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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