cri de coeur

noun

plural cris de coeur ˌkrē-də-ˈkər How to pronounce cri de coeur (audio)
: a passionate outcry (as of appeal or protest)

Examples of cri de coeur in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Elizabeth’s cri de coeur for employing a Washer of the Sovereign’s Hands, a Warden of the Swans, and a Hereditary Grand Falconer stands out as one of the most monarchist moments of the entire series. Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2023 This personal cri de coeur is echoed in the general complaint that presents have made the holidays too commercial, material and consumerist. Alison Gopnik, WSJ, 14 Dec. 2023 The two socialist thinkers published the Communist Manifesto during the revolutionary year 1848, a cri de coeur against grotesque inequality and exploitation that still resonates with readers nearly two centuries later. Samuel Clowes Huneke, The New Republic, 22 Sep. 2023 Penn spent 33 days in jail in 1987 for punching a guy, as referenced in his Smith cri de coeur. Stephen Rodrick, Variety, 13 Sep. 2023 Set in the hinterlands of Alberta, the movie focuses on several teenagers, both living and dead — a haunting that feels like a generational cri de coeur. Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2023 The difference between told something is super-hot versus actual heat is huge, of course, in the same way that using horror in a subversive, socially conscious way isn’t the same as being clumsily beaten about the head with ideas in an eye-candy cri de coeur with a suspenseful soundtrack. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2022 In addition, protests in Khuzestan Province over a severe water shortage are spreading across the country, in a sort of collective cri de coeur against the systemic corruption and mismanagement by Tehran that has turned a wealthy, resourceful country into a barren desert. Victoria Coates, National Review, 2 Aug. 2021 The same impulses that helped lift him to victory in 2016 - the outsider ethos; the angry, burn-it-all-down cri de coeur; the fiery and controversial rants; the false reality forged through untruths and deception - contributed to his undoing just four years later. Author: Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey, Matt Viser, Anchorage Daily News, 7 Nov. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cri de coeur.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French, literally, cry from the heart

First Known Use

1897, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cri de coeur was in 1897

Dictionary Entries Near cri de coeur

Cite this Entry

“Cri de coeur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cri%20de%20coeur. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.

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