mot juste

American  

[moh zhyst] / moʊ ˈʒüst /

noun

French.

plural

mots justes

1. the exact, appropriate word.

---

mot juste British  

/ mo ʒyst /

noun

1. the appropriate word or expression

---

Example Sentences

Eustache filmed the 1968 and 1979 competitions, if “competition” is the mot juste for a contest whose participants appear to have little say in taking part.

From New York Times • Apr. 30, 2024

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

And as Barnum ended nearly a century of trying to edit that sense of wonder into the mot juste, he finally nailed it at the end.

From Washington Post • Oct. 18, 2019

“And if they don’t want to feel rich, then they’re probably—” He pauses to consider the mot juste, then adds, “Dead.”

From The New Yorker • Jul. 13, 2018

Apart from all questions of stage technique, Wilde had the incomparable gift of finding le mot juste, of conveying a portrait in half-a-dozen words.

From Oscar Wilde by Ingleby, Leonard Cresswell