savoir-vivre
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of savoir-vivre
1745–55; < French: literally, knowing how to live
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.
The city’s contradictory charms, as they are wryly termed, its fabled mix of savoir-vivre and absolute crumminess, remain in good supply.
From New York Times ● May 20, 2011
To my knowledge savoir-vivre cannot be learned; you either have it or you don't.
From Time Magazine Archive
We have not seen flair and savoir-vivre like his in any of our leaders since John F. Kennedy.
From Time Magazine Archive
The court had “knowledge of the world” now: it had the fruits of achievement, civilization, savoir-vivre, gossip, fashion, malice, and the broad mind of scandal.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
They are men of great intelligence, perfect savoir-vivre, and calm dignity of manner, patrician citizens of a republic.
From Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. by Thomas Forester
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.
