Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A gracious gesture.
- noun A gesture noble in form but meaningless in substance.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A gracious gesture, noble in form but often futile or meaningless in substance.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a gracious (but usually meaningless) gesture
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[French : beau, noble + geste, gesture.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
French beau ("beautiful") + geste ("gesture")
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word beau geste.
Examples
-
William Boyd’s beau geste in making a guest appearance in the picture pleased DeMille enormously, and he gave Boyd an autographed picture of the two men in his dressing room.
Empire of Dreams Scott Eyman 2010
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.