pièce de résistance
Americannoun
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pièces de résistance
plural
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the principal dish of a meal.
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the most noteworthy or prized feature, aspect, event, article, etc., of a series or group; special item or attraction.
noun
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the principal or most outstanding item in a series or creative artist's work
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the main dish of a meal
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pièce de résistance
First recorded in 1780–90; from French: literally, “piece of resistance”; development of senses is unclear
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.
Their fated romance is the final piece of the puzzle, the pièce de résistance that helps De Palma’s film rise above the other thrillers of its ilk.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
But its pièce de résistance for Roffman was Caselotti herself, who was home that afternoon and happy to entertain strangers with her cherubic singsong cadence.
From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2025
If you want to buy a Birkin bag, the pièce de résistance from the French luxury retailer Hermès, you should know that you probably can’t.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2024
The orbiter’s last mission, however, is not to touch the stars, but to inspire the next generation of space explorers, serving as the pièce de résistance of the still-under-construction Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2024
At the end of the last century large portions of the old Roman wall were traceable in many places, but time has devoured almost the last morsels of that great pièce de résistance.
From Old and New London Volume I by Walter Thornbury
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.
