mot juste
Americannoun
-
mots justes
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Gainsbourg is bilingual, but French is her first language; she pauses occasionally in our conversation to search around for le mot juste.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 26, 2019
I always think that’s a wonderful fault, if it is a fault—constantly looking for not just the mot juste, as it were, but to give a spin on the mot juste.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 4, 2019
She is a fluid writer but not the sort to go in search of le mot juste.
From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2018
In January, when PhD students jostle for jobs at the annual meeting of the American Economic Association, a “market” might seem the mot juste.
From Economist ● Nov. 24, 2016
We never find him searching for the mot juste as for a needle in a bottle of hay.
From The Works of Max Beerbohm by Sir Max Beerbohm
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.
