man of letters
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.
He was Scotland's last freelance man of letters, equally and happily at home between the covers of books and the pages of newspapers, able to turn his hand, it seemed, to any commission.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026
“Literature nowadays is a trade,” Milvain insists: Putting aside men of genius, who may succeed by mere cosmic force, your successful man of letters is your skillful tradesman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
Mallon, a distinguished man of letters, moved to Manhattan at 32, holding a PhD from Harvard and a dissertation that became his acclaimed 1984 book, “A Book of One’s Own.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2025
Lives Lived: Paul Johnson, a prolific journalist, biographer and historian prized by conservatives, fashioned himself a man of letters in the great British tradition.
From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2023
Yet he is not essentially a man of letters or a poet; he is too indolent; his style is not inevitable or compulsive.
From The Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire by Glover, T. R. (Terrot Reaveley)
