fin de siècle

American  

[fan duh sye-kl^uh] / fɛ̃ də ˈsyɛ klə /

noun

1. the end of the 19th century.

---

adjective

1. Sometimes fin-de-siècle of, relating to, or characterized by concepts of art, society, etc., associated with the end of the 19th century.

fin de siècle British  

/ fɛ̃ də sjɛklə /

noun

1. the end of the 19th century, when traditional social, moral, and artistic values were in transition

---

adjective

1. of or relating to the close of the 19th century

2. decadent, esp in artistic tastes

fin de siècle Cultural  

1. The end of the nineteenth century; the phrase is French for “end of the century.” Fin de siècle is particularly used to describe the period's self-conscious artistic movements and a sophisticated despair that became popular at the time. Oscar Wilde is one of the best-known fin-de-siècle figures.

---

Etymology

Origin of fin de siècle

First recorded in 1885–95; from French: “end of century”; cf. fine ¹ ( def. ), de ( def. ), secular ( def. )

Example Sentences

The catalog begins with fin de siècle Europe, when the emergence of mass publishing began to lead to a firmer distinction between subordinate illustrators and visionary fine artists.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

Based on Larson’s research, he writes his nonfiction like a novel, chockablock full of weird and wondrous details of Chicago at the fin de siècle.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2025

The party quickly took on a mythic distinction in the city’s social history as a fin de siècle assemblage of Those Who Mattered, when print media still had the cachet to make those determinations.

From New York Times • Apr. 9, 2022

If peaches were touted as a cure for Georgia’s “sorry, washed-out anemic gullied hillsides” at the fin de siècle, than kudzu was seen as the panacea after the Great Depression.

From Slate • Aug. 28, 2021

Nothing indeed could be more opposed to the elementary crudity of impressionism than his distinction and refinement, which may be said to be carried to a really fin de siècle degree.

From French Art Classic and Contemporary Painting and Sculpture by Brownell, W. C. (William Crary)