Let them eat cake

Cultural  

1. A saying that shows insensitivity to or incomprehension of the realities of life for the unfortunate. Rousseau, in his Confessions, tells of a great princess who, on being informed that the country people had no bread, replied, “Let them eat cake.” This statement is often, and incorrectly, attributed to Marie Antoinette.

---

Example Sentences

Indeed, there’s a let-them-eat-cake quality to her stream of carefully styled photos that, along with her aversion to oversharing, registers as another difference between Lipa and her ostensibly relatable American counterparts.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2021

Adding to the let-them-eat-cake vibe was a crowd of some 300 protesters chanting outside the walls.

From New York Times • Feb. 11, 2017

But to make that the most compelling aspect of the Galliano comeback is to miss the point in Marie Antoinette, let-them-eat-cake style.

From The Guardian • Oct. 8, 2014

She frolicked as a stern, let-them-eat-cake fop queen in a send-up of Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the MTV Video Awards ceremony.

From Time Magazine Archive

The interviewees' fond reminiscences of the country's postcolonial monarchical rule seem skewed to say the least, as the regime's cultural agenda of promoting syrupy pop ditties emitted an air of let-them-eat-cake indulgence amid widespread poverty.

From Los Angeles Times