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
Lives Lived: Paul Johnson, a prolific journalist, biographer and historian prized by conservatives, fashioned himself a man of letters in the great British tradition.
From New York Times • Jan. 13, 2023
Looked at from without his life was uneventful enough, the even career of a man of letters, singularly fortunate in all his circumstances.
From The Letters of Henry James (volume I) by James, Henry
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
