canaille
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of canaille
1670–80; < French < Italian canaglia pack of dogs, equivalent to can ( e ) dog (< Latin canis ) + -aglia collective suffix
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.
He knew nothing of that silent middle class that struggled between genteel poverty and the impossible desire of emulating the golden canaille to which he himself belonged.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Mount, brother, mount, or we shall have the whole rustic canaille upon us in a twinkling.” p. 135I did as he commanded: we were presently in the road which we had left the night before.
From The Bible in Spain Vol. 1 [of 2] by Borrow, George Henry
The canaille have taken to parade the streets, singing and shouting their odious songs, and Jocasse has suffered much from the disturbance.
From Sir Jasper Carew His Life and Experience by Lever, Charles James
Mon cher,' said the other, 'you and I were once gentlemen—we talked, ate, drank, and dressed as such; we have now the canaille life, and the past is scarcely even a dream.'
From Gerald Fitzgerald The Chevalier by Lever, Charles James
I have broken with 'the gentlemen' to cast my lot with the canaille.
From The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. I (of II) by Lever, Charles James
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.
