précieuse
noun
one of the 17th-century literary women of France who affected an extreme care in the use of language.
précieuses
-
pluralof précieuse.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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.
Madame de Longueville reigned there as well as in all the best circles of Paris; and it must be confessed, with her good qualities she had also some of the defects of the best précieuses.
From Political Women, Vol. 1 by Sutherland Menzies
About our author, however, we know that his experience has been long, and of the best, that he does not speak from a hasty acquaintance with a few contemporary précieux and précieuses.
From On the Sublime by H. L. (Herbert Lord) Havell
When in 1659 his comedy Les précieuses Ridicules took Paris by storm, it did more than make a reformation of the manners of its own.
From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 11 by Rossiter Johnson
She was carefully brought up under Ménage and Rapin, among others, and was one of the most brilliant of the précieuses of the Hôtel Rambouillet.
From A Short History of French Literature by George Saintsbury
That which vauntingly styles itself the écriture artiste must reap its reward promptly in praise from the précieuses ridicules of the hour.
From Inquiries and Opinions by Brander Matthews
