mot juste
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Gainsbourg is bilingual, but French is her first language; she pauses occasionally in our conversation to search around for le mot juste.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 26, 2019
In January, when PhD students jostle for jobs at the annual meeting of the American Economic Association, a “market” might seem the mot juste.
From Economist ● Nov. 24, 2016
Searching, like Flaubert, for le seul mot juste, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. offered “tawdry” and “distasteful” to describe McDonnell’s behavior.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 1, 2016
“Snoots are those who are nit-pickers for the mot juste, for using a word precisely the way it should be used,” he explained.
From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2015
I decided that "dim" was the mot juste for him.
From Enoch Soames: a memory of the eighteen-nineties by Beerbohm, Max, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
