fait accompli

American  

[fe ta-kawn-plee] / fɛ ta kɔ̃ˈpli /

noun

French.

faits accomplis plural

1. an accomplished fact; a thing already done.

   The enemy's defeat was a fait accompli long before the formal surrender.

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fait accompli British  

/ fɛt akɔ̃pli /

noun

1. something already done and beyond alteration

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fait accompli Cultural  

1. Something that has already been done: “The company president did not discuss the new hiring policy with her board of directors; instead she put it into effect and presented the board with a fait accompli.” From French, meaning “an accomplished fact.”

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• faits accomplis
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fait accompli

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fait accompli

Yet the majority is trying to avoid a fait accompli.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026

The last Bruins coach to survive that scenario was Ben Howland, who immediately entered the next season on the hot seat, his fate seemingly a fait accompli.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2026

Following the sentencing, Mr Webber's mother said the CPS had, in November, presented her family with "a fait accompli that the decision had been made to accept manslaughter charges".

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2024

“We will not consent to fait accompli and unlawfulness on the island.”

From Washington Times ● Aug. 22, 2023

He also plays the old trick of presenting as a fait accompli what is, in fact, the nub of the argument, and to give the force of inevitability to something contingent.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith