man of letters

American  

noun

1. a man engaged in literary pursuits, especially a professional writer.

2. a man of great learning; scholar.

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Etymology

Origin of man of letters

First recorded in 1635–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

man of letters

Ed Saxberger is a man of letters: He works at the post office.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

He was Scotland's last freelance man of letters, equally and happily at home between the covers of books and the pages of newspapers, able to turn his hand, it seemed, to any commission.

From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026

Mallon, a distinguished man of letters, moved to Manhattan at 32, holding a PhD from Harvard and a dissertation that became his acclaimed 1984 book, “A Book of One’s Own.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2025

On a hot summer day in 1961, a young TV writer and aspiring comedian named Dick Cavett attended the funeral of George S. Kaufman, the renowned wit and man of letters.

From New York Times ● Dec. 22, 2022

Voltaire is said to have told his father when he left college, at the age of fifteen, “I wish to be a man of letters, and nothing else.”

From Voltaire: A Sketch of his Life and Works by G. W. (George William) Foote