et tu, Brute
AmericanDiscover More
“Et tu, Brute?” is used to express surprise and dismay at the treachery of a supposed friend.
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.
To this very day, people will exclaim “Et tu, Brute?” to point out a terrible betrayal by a friend.
From Literature
But consider: If even in our own uncomfortably modern times, there are ideas and feelings that are perfectly expressed in no other way but Latin—“tempus fugit,” for example, or “alma mater,” or “Et tu, Brute?”
From Literature
“Et tu, Brute?” she read with a sigh.
From Literature
In the video, she has the quote, “Et tu, Brute” from William Shakespeare’s "Julius Caesar" written on her chair as a reference to West stabbing her in the back.
From Salon
The area - close to where Caesar is supposed to have exclaimed "Et tu, Brute?" as he saw his friend Brutus among his murderers - is these days also home to a sanctuary for stray cats.
From Reuters
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.