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
Still, there are others----" "You forget that I have got to rule the canaille in Cahors," he answered impatiently, "as well as these mad clowns, who think that the end of the world is here.
From The Red Cockade by Weyman, Stanley John
And by-and-by, when the bourgeoisie is frightened of the canaille and tired of the blood-letting, your Vellington he will be the Emperor.
From Chippinge Borough by Weyman, Stanley J.
By that time I began to perceive which way the wind was blowing: the canaille had unceremoniously linked their arms in those of the National Guards, and insisted, courteously but firmly, on carrying their firearms.
From An Englishman in Paris Notes and Recollections by Albert D.
I am not so fastidious as Dr. Grey, and one who sprang from canaille must be pardoned if she betrays a longing for the ‘flesh-pots of Egypt.’
From Vashti or, Until Death Us Do Part by Wilson, Augusta J. Evans
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.
