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c'est la vie
[ se la -vee ]
/ sɛ la ˈvi /
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French.
that's life; such is life.
VIDEO FOR C'EST LA VIE
How Do You Use "C'est La Vie" In A Sentence?
In French, "c'est la vie" means "that's life." And, we English speakers borrowed it into English in the 1880s as an idiom to express acceptance or resignation, much like "oh well." But, how do you use it in a sentence?
QUIZ
QUIZ YOURSELF ON “ITS” VS. “IT’S”!
Apostrophes can be tricky; prove you know the difference between "it’s" and "its" in this crafty quiz!
Question 1 of 8
On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.
Words nearby c'est la vie
c'est-à-dire, Cestan-Chenais syndrome, c'est autre chose, Cesti, c'est la guerre, c'est la vie, Cestoda, cestode, cestoid, Cestoidea, cestus
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022
How to use c'est la vie in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for c'est la vie
c'est la vie
/ French (sɛ la vi) /
that's life
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
Cultural definitions for c'est la vie
C'est la vie
[ (say lah vee) ]
An expression used to play down some minor disappointment: “So we lost a softball game by twenty-two runs. What can you do; c'est la vie.” From French, meaning “that's life.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.