Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Exactly the right word or expression.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The perfectly appropriate word or phrase for the situation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the appropriate word or expression

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French : mot, word + juste, right.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French

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Examples

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Comments

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  • Exactly the right word or expression. (from WordCraft)

    May 20, 2008

  • "'My west window,' says the ancient Canon D'Ascoyne, showing a visitor around his ancient church, 'has all of the...' he searches for the mot juste, 'exuberance of Chaucer, without any of the... concomitant crudities.'"

    -- Vincent Canby, 'Sir Alec: Amid the Laurels, Very Hardy', New York Times, 25 April 1983.

    November 6, 2008