mot juste

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

And as Barnum ended nearly a century of trying to edit that sense of wonder into the mot juste, he finally nailed it at the end.

From Washington Post • Oct. 18, 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

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

"You have a nice instinct for the mot juste," she informed him.

From The Wit and Humor of America, Volume X (of X) by Wilder, Marshall Pinckney