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.

“O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous,” Voltaire, the 18th-century French enlightenment philosopher, himself known for his bons mots, once wrote, adding: “God granted my prayer.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

Despite the displacement and disconnect endured by a delightfully complex protagonist whose anxiety-induced bons mots would surely kill on Twitter, the novel tugs at your heartstrings.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2022

It is difficult not to write a review that is simply a compendium of Specktor’s bons mots.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 22, 2021

This approach isn’t without its pitfalls, and despite the occasional cackles, Cardi B is subdued and serious in person, with the filthy jokes and boundary-pushing bons mots of her Instagram largely absent.

From The Guardian • Dec. 1, 2017

Je ne puis souffrir long temps les diseurs de bons mots.

From Boswell's Correspondence with the Honourable Andrew Erskine, and His Journal of a Tour to Corsica by Hill, George Birkbeck Norman