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faute de mieux

American  
[foht duh myœ] / foʊt də ˈmyœ /

adverb

French.
  1. for lack of something better.


faute de mieux British  
/ fot də mjø, ˌfəʊt də ˈmjɜː /
  1. for lack of anything better

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of faute de mieux

First recorded in 1760–70

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.

They include bigly, deplorable, irregardless, icon, assumpsit, faute de mieux, in omnia paratus, revenant and feckless.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 20, 2016

Finland emerged as a modern nation state almost faute de mieux: having been annexed from Sweden by Russia, the Grand Duchy of Finland found itself without a Grand Duke following the October Revolution.

From The New Yorker • May 12, 2015

Some of the most well-meaning people collaborate — faute de mieux — and some of the bravest resisters are downright unpleasant.

From New York Times • Aug. 29, 2013

Doctors offhandedly counsel moderation as a holding pattern, something you do, cautiously and faute de mieux, until things go really wrong.

From Time Magazine Archive

The habit was merely practiced faute de mieux.

From Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 1 The Evolution of Modesty; The Phenomena of Sexual Periodicity; Auto-Erotism by Ellis, Havelock