fait accompli

[ fe ta-kawn-plee ]

noun

, French.

, plural faits ac·com·plis [fe z, a, -kaw, n, -, plee].

1. an accomplished fact; a thing already done:

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

fait accompli

/ fɛt akɔ̃pli /

noun

1. something already done and beyond alteration

fait accompli

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.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of fait accompli¹

First recorded in 1835–45

Word History and Origins

Origin of fait accompli¹

literally: accomplished fact

Example Sentences

Pursuing the issue by force in order to create a fait accompli is theologically reckless and a political recipe for disaster.

From The Daily Beast

That does not make a war with Iran a fait accompli, but it does bring the possibility ever closer.

From The Daily Beast

The Iranians are racing to make their nuclear capability a fait accompli.

From The Daily Beast

He did his best to sound statesmanlike as he accepted the fait accompli.

From The Daily Beast

But for Moore, the most difficult and also most satisfying fait accompli was her giblet gravy.

From The Daily Beast

Yet, even in France, the task of transforming medicine into a natural and exact science is far from being a fait accompli.

From Project Gutenberg

Rupture in diplomatic relations between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, he said, was a fait accompli.

From Project Gutenberg

Then Gladstone, October 7, tried to force Palmerston's hand by treating the intervention as a fait accompli.

From Project Gutenberg

And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a fait accompli?

From Project Gutenberg

Helen's own friends, I discovered, had passed from teasing to regard us as a fait accompli, and thereafter held their peace.

From Project Gutenberg