demimonde
noun
demi·monde
ˈde-mi-ˌmänd 
ˈde-mē-
1
a
: a class of women on the fringes of respectable society supported by wealthy lovers
also
: their world
b
: the world of prostitution
2
: a distinct circle or world that is often an isolated part of a larger world
a night in the disco demimonde
especially
: one having low reputation or prestige
Synonyms
Examples of demimonde in a Sentence
a documentary examining the demimonde of organized crime
Recent Examples on the Web
The film’s attitude toward the demimonde of Hong Kong sugar daddies and the models who pretend to love them boils down to a cheeky and rather thoughtless shrug.
—
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 13 July 2023
In the wake of the Dreyfus affair, which had exposed deep anxieties about who was authentically French, the French government had cracked down on immigrants, anarchists and the demimonde of Montmartre—Picasso’s people.
—Hamilton Cain, WSJ, 17 Mar. 2023
In that 1957 film, Tony Curtis portrays Sidney Falco, a cheerfully amoral press agent navigating the cutthroat demimonde of New York’s tabloid press by currying the favor of megalomaniacal columnist J.J. Hunsecker, played with slithery sang-froid by Burt Lancaster.
—Washington Post, 20 Aug. 2021
Marcus Leatherdale, who made classical portraits of Manhattan’s demimonde in the 1980s — Keith Haring, Andy Warhol and Sydney Biddle Barrows, otherwise known as the Mayflower Madam, all made their way to his Lower East Side studio — died on April 22 at his home in the state of Jharkhand, India.
—New York Times, 4 May 2022
His work captures this demimonde through his unique lens.
—Jim Dobson, Forbes, 23 Mar. 2023
The love of his life, Rhea Seehorn’s Kim Wexler, has an internal sense of justice too keen to abide either the legally sanctioned cruelty of corporate law or the violence and malice of Saul’s work in Albuquerque’s criminal demimonde.
—Time, 30 Nov. 2022
Eventually, these stories expanded beyond the courtesans to encompass an entire hidden cat world, including kabuki actors, artists, comedians, and other demimonde.
—Zack Davisson, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Sep. 2020
The job lasted six months, but his fascination with the demimonde on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street persisted.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 16 Jan. 2023
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 13 July 2023
In the wake of the Dreyfus affair, which had exposed deep anxieties about who was authentically French, the French government had cracked down on immigrants, anarchists and the demimonde of Montmartre—Picasso’s people.
—Hamilton Cain, WSJ, 17 Mar. 2023
In that 1957 film, Tony Curtis portrays Sidney Falco, a cheerfully amoral press agent navigating the cutthroat demimonde of New York’s tabloid press by currying the favor of megalomaniacal columnist J.J. Hunsecker, played with slithery sang-froid by Burt Lancaster.
—Washington Post, 20 Aug. 2021
Marcus Leatherdale, who made classical portraits of Manhattan’s demimonde in the 1980s — Keith Haring, Andy Warhol and Sydney Biddle Barrows, otherwise known as the Mayflower Madam, all made their way to his Lower East Side studio — died on April 22 at his home in the state of Jharkhand, India.
—New York Times, 4 May 2022
His work captures this demimonde through his unique lens.
—Jim Dobson, Forbes, 23 Mar. 2023
The love of his life, Rhea Seehorn’s Kim Wexler, has an internal sense of justice too keen to abide either the legally sanctioned cruelty of corporate law or the violence and malice of Saul’s work in Albuquerque’s criminal demimonde.
—Time, 30 Nov. 2022
Eventually, these stories expanded beyond the courtesans to encompass an entire hidden cat world, including kabuki actors, artists, comedians, and other demimonde.
—Zack Davisson, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Sep. 2020
The job lasted six months, but his fascination with the demimonde on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street persisted.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 16 Jan. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'demimonde.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near demimonde
Cite this Entry
“Demimonde.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demimonde. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
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