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.
“Martinez has this laissez faire, savoir-vivre à la française, a little bit leisure from the ’30s, from the golden days,” Cottray, 64, said.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
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
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.
