c'est la vie

American  

[se la vee] / sɛ la ˈvi /

French.

1. that's life; such is life.

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c'est la vie British  

/ sɛ la vi /

1. that's life

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C'est la vie Cultural  

1. 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.”

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Example Sentences

The term never caught on — ut c’est la vie.

From The Verge • May 31, 2022

You can’t get much more contrived than getting three supermodels to arrange your hair on a yacht, but c’est la vie, because after Jenner received 3.5m likes, the pose became incredibly popular among copycats.

From The Guardian • Nov. 25, 2019

Close smiled and offered a c’est la vie shrug.

From New York Times • Feb. 24, 2019

Her survival of the ups and downs has given her the c'est la vie attitude about her latest body of work, one that harks back to her initial love of pop.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2018

Car l'amour, c'est la vie, C'est tout ce qu'on regrette et tout ce qu'on envie Quand on voit sa jeunesse au couchant d�cliner.

From The Crown of Life by Gissing, George