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jeu d'esprit

[zhœ des-pree] / ʒœ dɛsˈpri /


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.

Still, there is one difference: Irregulars regard such playful ingenuity as merely an intellectual game, a literal jeu d’esprit.

From Washington Post • Apr. 21, 2023

The story proper begins almost as a light-hearted jeu d’esprit.

From Washington Post • Jul. 15, 2015

Ratmansky’s Violente keeps her arms closer to her chest, and deploys them more softly, so that the pointing becomes a sort of jeu d’esprit.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 8, 2015

There are echoes of “Manhattan” and “Annie Hall,” but the better analogues for this jeu d’esprit, written by Peter Glanz and Juan Iglesias and directed by Mr. Glanz, are Mr. Allen’s comic New Yorker essays.

From New York Times • Aug. 21, 2011

Mr. Campbell exhibits both ingenuity and metrical ability in this facile jeu d'esprit.

From Writings in the United Amateur, 1915-1922 by Lovecraft, H. P. (Howard Phillips)