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mot juste

American  
[moh zhyst] / moʊ ˈʒüst /

noun

French.
  • mots justes
    plural
  1. the exact, appropriate word.


mot juste British  
/ mo ʒyst /

noun

  1. the appropriate word or expression

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

See Examples For:

So the word is out, and it’s le mot juste.

From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2021

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

I always think that’s a wonderful fault, if it is a fault—constantly looking for not just the mot juste, as it were, but to give a spin on the mot juste.

From The New Yorker ● Feb. 4, 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

"You have a nice instinct for the mot juste," she informed him.

From The Wit and Humor of America, Volume X (of X) by Marshall Pinckney Wilder

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