mot
4
9.9
- noun
- /moʊ/
:
dicho
- Precisely the mot juste for what Powell was trying to convey:
- bon mot
- mot juste
Anyhow, it struck Cosmo as being the MOT juste at the time and he came out with it.
- Anyhow, it struck Cosmo as being the MOT juste at the time and he came out with it.
Examples
-
He doesn't light up a broadcast with a bon mot or deliciously vicious jab.
Academic text (2000) -
Faced with this bon mot, Wilde and their other dining companions responded with embarrassed sniggers.
Academic text (2011) -
Then they both cracked up, as if some hilarious bon mot had passed between them.
Fiction book (1998) -
All the great bon mot that he unleashed on the air he tried out first on the reporters in the press room.
-
Her recent bons mots include, "Are those love handles, or are you growing wings?"
Fiction book (2000) -
The mot juste.
Fiction book (1995) -
Her concluding bons mots seal this impression:
Academic text (2005) -
We don't see each other for months, and then you blast in without a care and condemn me with your bon mots.
-
Reflections, observations, random thoughts, and bon mots: strolling the literary and geographic landscapes of American history.
Blog text (3) -
His witty observation during the meeting was a perfect mot that made everyone laugh.
Synonyms
19
8.1
A short clever remark that surprises and amuses people
5
7.2
A clever short remark meant to make people laugh
4
9.3
A clever short comment that makes people laugh
A quick, clever comment that is slightly cheeky
Compounds
How Witty
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word mot comes from French mot, which means 'word'. A helpful way to remember it is the phrase bon mot ('good word'), used for a short clever saying, so mot in English means a short, witty remark.