raison d'etre

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.

So they feel like it is their signature, their raison d’etre.

From Slate

At best — and I mean best seriously because it’s a reasonable and pleasurable raison d’être — Massive Talent is real-person fanfiction.

From The Verge

When he first came to power at the turn of the century, he played with the idea of Russia joining NATO, which itself was miraculously not rendered obsolete by the disappearance of its raison d’être, the Soviet Union.

From New York Times

“The raison d’être of Israel is to be a safe haven for every Jew in danger. We didn’t have it in 1903. We have it now.”

From New York Times

It’s the raison d’être — one might even say mission — of another well-performing new series, Quinta Brunson’s delightful “Abbott Elementary,” on ABC, in which a coterie of teachers attempt to make things work — and do — in a predominantly Black Philadelphia elementary school, in spite of budget constraints, their own blind spots and a hilariously self-involved principal.

From Los Angeles Times