pis aller

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 knew very well he was the pis aller of the party, and only danced when Parson Frank was not dragged out, nothing loth, by his little daughter. 

From Chantry House by Yonge, Charlotte Mary

Yet he is largely a pis aller for the would-be reader of Cassius Dio.

From Dio's Rome, Volume 1 (of 6) An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek during the Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus: and Now Presented in English Form by Dio, Cassius

If conscience must reign supreme, all government is a pis aller, and in anarchy the true millennium must be found.

From Henry VIII. by Pollard, A. F. (Albert Frederick)

Substitutes for butcher’s meat too often suggest the purely vegetarian dish that to most people is but a pis aller.

From Household Administration Its Place in the Higher Education of Women by Various

"I fixed on these lines as a pis aller; and they have done all and more than I wished, by bringing you back here for at least a moment."

From Two Years Ago, Volume II. by Kingsley, Charles