What does rigueur mean

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Click here to find out how. Spelling this fancy French borrowing correctly, on the other hand, isn't de rigueur your spellcheck will do it for you in most cases , but it is possible. The vowels of its final syllable are trickiest.

It may help to remember other French borrowings that end in eur , such as amateur , chauffeur , and entrepreneur. And of course the last four letters of liqueur match de rigueur perfectly. De rigueur has been used as an adjective in English for almost two centuries now, which means that it's established enough to appear in running text without italics.

It's foreign-sounding enough, though, that people can feel tentative about using it. Apply it where synonyms like proper , correct , and decorous are at home. Here are some examples of it in use in its adopted language:. Anglophone parents worry that being too strict will break their kids' creative spirits.

A visiting American mother was shocked when she saw a playpen in our apartment in Paris. Apparently, back home, even playpens are now seen as too confining. We didn't know. In Paris they're de rigueur. Being in the business of writing about cocktails and bars, I often find myself in some pretty swank digs—various "mixology" dens where the elaborate drinks require complex techniques, house-made bitters and farm-to-table infusions are de rigueur, and the bartender has achieved celebrity-chef star status.

Although de rigueur is usually found after the verb especially after is or are , it's also sometimes used in the traditional adjectival territory before a noun:. Stone, who patiently smiled through the de rigueur photo shoot in front of a backdrop emblazoned with the logos of the festival and its sponsors … — Paul Liberatore, Marin Independent Journal marinij.

If you're invited to a ball or other social function and the invitation includes the French phrase costume de rigueur, you are expected to adhere to a very strict dress code-typically, a white tie and tails if you're a man and a floor-length evening gown if you're a woman.

In French, de rigueur means "out of strictness" or "according to strict etiquette"; one definition of our word rigor, to which rigueur is related, is "the quality of being strict, unyielding, or inflexible. Monkey and Pigsy even exchange the de rigueur banter and mutual putdowns of such action movies. In the last year, her fusion exercise class has attracted a cult following and become de rigueur among the celebrity set.

They tried to continue their getaway but had to quickly abandon their vehicle on the Rue de Meaux in the 19th. Humans spent a long time domesticating cattle, and what they were trying to do, in essence, was de-domesticate them. The band was still on its way back as De Blasio and his wife departed. Yet even after the funeral protest, de Blasio was booed and heckled while addressing a new class of recruits as well. Madame de Condillac stood watching him, her face composed, her glance cold.

Then the door opened, the portiere was swept aside, and Anselme announced "Monsieur de Garnache.