arriere-pensee

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 Girondists alone had an arrière-pensée in their apparent favour towards him.

From History of the Girondists, Volume I Personal Memoirs of the Patriots of the French Revolution by Ryde, H. T.

As a matter of fact, there was an arrière-pensée underlying his words.

From 'Tween Snow and Fire A Tale of the Last Kafir War by Mitford, Bertram

He said this, as he said so many other things, with a frank and bold directness that made any suspicion of an arrière-pensée almost an impossibility.

From With the Procession by Fuller, Henry Blake

He spoke now without the slightest arrière-pensée of flattering her, and Sylvia in her sudden burst for self-expression was unconscious of him, save as an opponent in an argument.

From The Bent Twig by Fisher, Dorothy Canfield

Emerson uses the word here in the same sense as the French arrière-pensée, a mental reservation.

From Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Turpin, Edna Henry Lee