Tartuffe
Americannoun
plural
Tartuffes-
(italics) a comedy (1664–69) by Molière.
-
(often lowercase) Also Tartufe a hypocritical pretender to piety.
noun
Other Word Forms
- Tartuffian adjective
Etymology
Origin of Tartuffe
from the character in the Molière's comedy Tartuffe (1664)
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.
Ncuti Gatwa performs as Valere in Tartuffe in 2012.
From BBC • Jan. 2, 2026
Madame Pernelle, too, worships at the shrine of Tartuffe, but has nary a good word, and many a bad one, for anyone else.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025
Orgon, a wealthy bourgeois who has taken a much younger second wife, signs over his soul to Tartuffe, a lecherous swindler who poses as a saint while pursuing a diabolical agenda.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 19, 2024
Once he enters your mind, like Tartuffe did with his benefactor, he will reside there manipulatively, never letting go.
From Salon • Mar. 6, 2024
Then he had her memorize a page from Molière’s Le Tartuffe and its English translation.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
