bel esprit

[ bel es-pree ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, French.

, plural beaux es·prits [boh zes-, pree].

a person of great wit or intellect:
He found this charming bel esprit, not among his university colleagues, but in the person of a young widow on the outskirts of town.

bel esprit

/ bɛl ɛspri /

First recorded in 1630–40; French: literally, “fine mind, wittiness”

literally: fine wit

What we commonly understand in French by "esprit," "bel-esprit," "trait d'esprit," are—ingenious thoughts.

One evening he took me with him to a literary renion, at which every bel-esprit of the capital was to be present.

Madame de Pompadour joked my companion about her 'bel-esprit', but sometimes she reposed confidence in her.

There was the blue-stocking lady, a mature belle and bel-esprit.

Well might the weary courtiers cry out against les galeres du bel esprit.

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