Voltaire

[ vohl-tair, vol-; French vawl-ter ]

noun

1. François Marie Arouet, 1694–1778, French philosopher, historian, satirist, dramatist, and essayist.

Voltaire

/ vəʊl-; vɒlˈtɛə; vɔltɛr /

noun

1. Voltaire16941778MFrenchWRITING: writer pseudonym of François Marie Arouet. 1694–1778, French writer, whose outspoken belief in religious, political, and social liberty made him the embodiment of the 18th-century Enlightenment. His major works include Lettres philosophiques (1734) and the satire Candide (1759). He also wrote plays, such as Zaïre (1732), poems, and scientific studies. He suffered several periods of banishment for his radical views

Voltaire

1. The nom de plume of François Arouet, an eighteenth-century French philosopher and author and a major figure of the Enlightenment . Voltaire was known as a wit and freethinker. The most famous of his works is .

Derived Forms

• Volˈtairean, adjectivenoun

Other Words From

• Vol·taire·an Vol·tairi·an adjective noun

Example Sentences

Several centuries ago, Voltaire declared that a dog is man’s best friend.

From Time

Voltaire mocked Leibniz for suggesting that we live in the best of all possible worlds, but Barbour shares Leibniz’s view.

From Nautilus

That Émilie du Châtelet was a party-girl who slept with Voltaire and had a knack for translation.

From Nautilus

A century later, the early intellectual dominance of this tiny region inspired France’s Voltaire to write, “we look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilization.”

From Nautilus

If this is the age of quantum reason, then Baggott is its Voltaire.

From Nautilus

Tend to your own garden, to quote the great sage of free speech, Voltaire, and invite people to follow your example.

From The Daily Beast

He had read Rousseau, Voltaire, and other thinkers in French society.

From The Daily Beast

“Common sense is not so common,” Voltaire proclaimed three centuries ago.

From The Daily Beast

Leibniz (185) and Voltaire (170) also performed well, but others gave a lackluster showing.

From The Daily Beast

But she was quoting Rousseau and Voltaire in her letters when she was only 16, before she ever met the doctor.

From The Daily Beast

These short studies reflect every phase of Voltaire's sparkling genius.

From Project Gutenberg

Voltaire exerted himself as warmly against this infamous act, as he had against the execution of Calas.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus Voltaire, for a mistaken purpose and with ill-judged passion, frequently cast the light of his mind on historical prejudices.

From Project Gutenberg

Voltaire lived from 1755 to 1758 at les Dlices near Geneva, and within Genevan territory.

From Project Gutenberg

Then he smiled grimly, thinking of Voltaire's cruel epigram—that "letters addressed to posterity seldom reach their destination!"

From Project Gutenberg