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View synonyms for belles-lettres

belles-lettres

[ French bel-le-truh ]

plural noun

  1. literature regarded as a fine art, especially as having a purely aesthetic function.
  2. light and elegant literature, especially that which is excessively refined, characterized by aestheticism, and minor in subject, substance, or scope.


belles-lettres

/ bɛllɛtrə /

noun

  1. functioning as singular literary works, esp essays and poetry, valued for their aesthetic rather than their informative or moral content
“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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Other Words From

  • bel·let·rist [bel-, le, -trist], noun
  • bel·let·ris·tic [bel-li-, tris, -tik], adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of belles-lettres1

1700–10; from French: literally, “fine letters.” See belle, letter 1
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Word History and Origins

Origin of belles-lettres1

C17: from French: fine letters
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Synonym Study

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Example Sentences

Charles de la Rue, a French Jesuit, died; distinguished as an orator and poet and a professor of belles-lettres.

There are usually three lectures daily; the first on sciences, and the other two on belles lettres.

In a single department of belles-lettres he had shown mastery.

Among his contributors of belles lettres we find the names of the authors just mentioned, and also several others.

They consequently reflect, like the belles lettres, the conditions under which the Jews are laboring.

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Bellerophonbelletrist