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
One of the canaille, a jailer, was put on the witness stand and questioned briefly.
From In the Day of Adversity by John Bloundelle-Burton
I think you have hit on the very answer to your question; not but what men of high birth were as mad as the canaille.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, February, 1852 by
I have broken with 'the gentlemen' to cast my lot with the canaille.
From The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. I (of II) by Charles James Lever
Count you the fork and spoons, Mr Robbins, and see that these canaille music men come not down the air—ree.
From Lady Maude's Mania by George Manville Fenn
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.
