pis aller

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.

She was merely amusing herself with him as a provincial pis aller.

From The Vision Splendid by Raine, William MacLeod

It was true I might find a political stalwart in the smoking-room—but that was a last resort, a desperate and ignominious pis aller.

From The Inheritors by Conrad, Joseph

But this, it must be remembered, would leave the work of Southern Slav Unity incomplete, and is only to be regarded as a pis aller.

From The War and Democracy by

He knew very well he was the pis aller of the party, and only danced when Parson Frank was not dragged out, nothing loth, by his little daughter. 

From Chantry House by Yonge, Charlotte Mary

Too much forethought is fatal to progress, and if I had really considered difficulties I could have stayed in England and written a story instead, a most loathsome pis aller.

From A Tramp's Notebook by Roberts, Morley