juste-milieu

[zhyst-mee-lyœ]

noun

French.

plural

juste-milieux 

1. a point between two extremes; the golden mean.

Word History and Origins

Origin of juste-milieu¹

Literally, “exact middle”

Example Sentences

Charles Dix," says a legitimate in principle, 243 but a juste-milieu man in practice,—"Charles Dix has abdicated the throne, which otherwise must unquestionably be his by indefeasible right.

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They, in truth, form between them the genuine juste-milieu on which the present government is balanced.

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But the great majority of the ladies who resort to Boulevard des Italiens in search of conquests put no politics in their smiles; they are cosmopolites, for they have been known to dart glances impartially at republicans and legitimists, at old soldiers of the Empire and favorites of the Restoration; it has been observed, however, that they affect more particularly the partisans of the juste-milieu.

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But also -- despite his often repeated claim to reject tradition absolutely -- paying complete homage to an earlier French artist: Honore Daumier, whose tiny clay effigies of politico-literary notables known as Les Celebrites du Juste-Milieu, wizened, compressed and distorted, are the obvious and inescapable grandfathers of all Dubuffet's turnip men.

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We found the group of Maria and daughters washing in the lagoon, nearly all in dishabille: Juanita with naught but a flimsy chemisetta, not a ceinture around the little waist, revealing the most adorable juste-milieu form—between the bud and the rose—with rich masses of dark hair covering her shoulders, and rivalling in beauty the splendor of her eyes.

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