man of letters
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.
He was Scotland's last freelance man of letters, equally and happily at home between the covers of books and the pages of newspapers, able to turn his hand, it seemed, to any commission.
From BBC • Feb. 3, 2026
“Literature nowadays is a trade,” Milvain insists: Putting aside men of genius, who may succeed by mere cosmic force, your successful man of letters is your skillful tradesman.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025
Mallon, a distinguished man of letters, moved to Manhattan at 32, holding a PhD from Harvard and a dissertation that became his acclaimed 1984 book, “A Book of One’s Own.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2025
In a climate that Mr. Snyder helped create, he billed himself as a businessman rather than as a man of letters.
From New York Times • Jun. 8, 2023
He is an educated English gentleman, very thoroughly a man of letters, who has had the good fortune to add to his treasury of experience by travels in strange places and among strange people.
From The Circus, and Other Essays and Fugitive Pieces by Kilmer, Joyce
