soi-disant

But in at least some corners of this movement — soi-disant “Gorpcore,” as in the hiker’s snack — there is no piece like the fleece, and no fleece like Sandy Liang’s.

Andrew Mitchell, the former international development secretary, has no time for what he sees as criticisms delivered from “the luxury of 800 years of democracy”, saying: “There a tendency for Rwanda to be judged through the eyes of sophisticated western soi-disant liberals, and that’s the wrong way to view it.”

One Senate leader estimated the border wall would cost between $12bn and $15bn “upfront” – a possible sticking point among soi-disant fiscal conservatives.

Michael Gove, a leading Brexiteer and former justice secretary, scoffed that soi-disant experts predicting economic doom had “oeuf on their face”.

Sebastian gives breathing space to them all, as he does for Maurice Buret, the soi-disant panderer he befriends in Paris, who might have been imagined by Choderlos de Laclos, and Marin Dronţu, the determined womaniser and heavy drinker with whom he forms a cautious relationship.