noblesse
Britishnoun
-
noble birth or condition
-
the noble class
Etymology
Origin of noblesse
C13: from Old French; see noble
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.
Mr. Broderick, himself a sometime movie star, brings a slyly funny air of noblesse oblige that dovetails amusingly with Jay’s pompous, blinkered dimness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
When Pritzker finds himself explaining why he does what he does, he often falls back on the vague language of noblesse oblige—that “we” have a responsibility to “lift up” or “stand up” for “the vulnerable.”
From Slate • Sep. 18, 2025
It's the "noblesse oblige" posturing of 19th-century industrialists, who pretended that building a few museums made up for grinding underpaid workers into dust.
From Salon • Oct. 12, 2023
Given the vast wealth gap between likely patrons and these portrait-subjects, the question creates an inescapable aura of noblesse oblige.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 31, 2023
“You’ve got true noblesse oblige, Mountain Goat,” Dad would say.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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.
