étoile

American  

[ay-twal] / eɪˈtwal /

noun

French.

• étoiles
  plural

1. a star or something shaped like a star.

2. prima ballerina.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• étoiles
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

étoile étoiles

In one sequence, Claude Bessy, a Paris Opera étoile, plays a model, wooed by her lover and eating a sandwich with the most royal disinterest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

“I will never be an étoile, because it’s too complicated and it’s a job,” de Laâge says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2025

A technically accomplished and versatile dancer, he rose rapidly through the competitive ranks of the Opera, becoming an étoile in 1997.

From New York Times ● Oct. 28, 2022

When Dupont was named the head of Paris Opera Ballet, in February 2016, she had only recently retired as an étoile, or star dancer, at the company.

From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2022

The measured walk, the quincunx and the étoile imposed their unsatisfying sameness on every royal and noble garden.

From A History of English Romanticism in the Eighteenth Century by Henry A. (Henry Augustin) Beers

His wit flies out on clear-cut, swallow-like wings; in speaking of Paul Alexis' book "Le Besoin d'aimer," he said: "Vous avez trouvé un titre assez laid pour faire reculer les divines étoiles."

From Confessions of a Young Man by George (George Augustus) Moore

In such a passage again as the following, the power and simplicity of the diction can escape no reader; the piling up of the strokes is worthy of Victor Hugo:— Les étoiles cherront.

From A Short History of French Literature by George Saintsbury

His wit flies out on clear-cut, swallow-like wings as when he said, in speaking of Paul Alexis' book "Le Besoin d'aimer," "Vous avez trouvez un titre assez laid pour faire reculer les divines étoiles."

From Confessions of a Young Man by George (George Augustus) Moore