ci-devant
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of ci-devant
Literally, “heretofore”
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.
As a ci-devant intellectual I was one of the elect.
From Time Magazine Archive
What the ci-devant Horace Townsend experienced may be easily enough indicated, and in one word—madness.
From The Coward A Novel of Society and the Field in 1863 by Morford, Henry
The ci-devant belle of Brompton, appalled by the prospect, started up from the rocking-chair, and once more commenced pacing the room.
From The Child Wife by Reid, Mayne
"Digby, old fellow, can you lend me £100?" said Lord L'Estrange, clapping his ci-devant brother officer on the shoulder, and in a tone of voice that seemed like a boy's—so impudent was it, and devil-me-carish.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol III, No 13, 1851 by Various
Now then for the detested residence, and the empty grave, of the ci-devant conqueror of Europe!”
From Perils in the Transvaal and Zululand by Adams, H.C.
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.
