bien pensant

American  

[byen pen-sahnt, byan pahn-sahn] / ˌbyɛn pɛnˈsɑnt, byɛ̃ pɑ̃ˈsɑ̃ /

Or bien-pensant

adjective

1. blindly conventional or orthodox; having or based on beliefs that are acceptably proper or correct.

   In bien pensant circles, it has become fashionable to speak of India and China in the same breath, though these countries have little in common.

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noun

1. a person who adopts conventional or orthodox beliefs without critical judgment.

   I've been called an opinionated bien pensant.

bien-pensant British  

/ bjɛ̃pɑ̃sɑ̃ /

adjective

1. right-thinking; orthodox

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noun

1. a right-thinking person

Etymology

Origin of bien pensant

First recorded in 1840–45; from French: literally, “well thinking,” equivalent to bien, from Latin bene “well” + pensant, present participle of penser “to think”; pensive ( def. )

Example Sentences

Here, to the horror of Carrère and his bien pensant circle, he ended up among the Serbs.

From The Guardian • Sep. 21, 2014

In other words, the same bien pensant crew who spoke on the last hot money-related subject of the day, whether it was trade barriers or exchange rates or whatever.

From Salon • Feb. 23, 2014

The French have a phrase for us: bien pensant, well-thinking, comfortable in received wisdom.

From The Guardian • Jul. 8, 2010

And for the weekly Punch;—so gemütlich and bien pensant and, often, very, very funny, with a funniness that the Continental papers never give one; their jests are never the jests of the bien pensant.

From Tante by Sedgwick, Anne Douglas

He might be a Jesuit, but he was bien pensant.

From The Disentanglers by Lang, Andrew