soi-disant
/ˌswɑːdiːˈzɒ̃/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.27 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of a person: self-styled, self-proclaimed, with implications of pretence or dishonesty.
adv
Example Sentences
- "Moreover, Lady Dudley flattered herself with filling the next best part to the principal, that of confidante with Mrs. Courtenaye. Constance had, however, too much good taste, as well as good feeling, for this; she had betrayed her jealousy, not confessed it. Still, this was enough for her soi-disant friend, who went on torturing her with stories about Lady Marchmont's powers of fascination, and Lady Marchmont's coquetry."
- "Geoffrey had gone out for a ride and returned suffering from complicated loss of memory. At the same time there had appeared on the scene the soi-disant Dr. Olivant."
- "a soi-disant pedigree"
- "cicumstances which appear to have influenced his soi-disant historical labours."
- "Among the delusions which at different periods have possessed themselves of the minds of large masses of the human race, perhaps the most curious -- certainly the least creditable -- is the modern soi-disant science of political economy, based on the idea that an advantageous code of social action may be determined irrespectively of the influence of social affection."
- ""Fuck You, Buddy" is the first part in a series (The Trap - What Happened to Our Dreams of Freedom, Sunday, BBC2) about civil liberties: the keen-eared wireless listener will have been alerted to its soi-disant intellectual credentials by the fact that they are trailing it on Radio 4."
Etymology
Borrowed from French soi-disant.