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

That fait accompli brought them worldwide fame, culminating in two open-air gigs at Knebworth House in summer 1996.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2025

At the time, it felt like an Oscar nomination was a fait accompli, and it still does.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2024

If we find in coming months or years that any of the 12 dead at the Downs tested hot, then we can mark the FTC's ruling as the moment of fait accompli.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 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