philosophe
Americannoun
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any of the popular French intellectuals or social philosophers of the 18th century, as Diderot, Rousseau, or Voltaire.
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a philosophaster.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of philosophe
Borrowed into English from French around 1770–80
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:
It was this understanding that made the French philosophe so eloquent a defender of the rule of law and so severe a critic of direct taxation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
The term most often used for Enlightenment thinkers is philosophe, meaning simply “philosopher” in French.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020
The philosophe handed her a feverish memorandum for reform, covering everything from rhubarb cultivation to vocational schooling.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 25, 2019
Two centuries later the French philosophe Voltaire would mock the empire as “neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire,” but to Charles, his realm was holy indeed.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2014
As I approached, I saw that my dear philosophe spake in terms of remonstration to the Serjeant, which officer protested their presence on the ship.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
His 1770s busts of Denis Diderot and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and especially his sculpture of a seated Voltaire, have influenced ever since how the French picture their philosophes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Roland had grown up reading the philosophes and was influenced by Diderot and Rousseau, among others.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
The abuses of the church, the ignorance of the nobility, even the injustices of kings might be fair game for criticism, but none of the better-known philosophes called for the equivalent of a political revolution.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020
In addition, despite the inherent difficulty of publishing against the backdrop of censorship, philosophes did much to see that organized religion itself was undermined.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020
The stacks of Nahuatl manuscripts in Mexican archives depict the tlamatinime meeting to exchange ideas and gossip, as did the Vienna Circle and the French philosophes and the Taisho-period Kyoto school.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
