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.

The problem isn’t the production but the musical’s shifting raison d’être.

From Los Angeles Times

Unrestrained power, of course, is the president’s raison d’être.

From Salon

Lowell, spurned in his romantic life and treated as a black sheep by his dynastic family, found in Mars a calling, a raison d’être.

From Los Angeles Times

Fundamentally, the format's raison d'être is now under question.

From BBC

Instead of a unified empire, the smaller kingdoms of the Heptarchy still dominate, their various dangerous machinations providing the raison d’être for the differing orders.

From Los Angeles Times