cri de coeur

noun \ ˌkrē-də-ˈkər \

|Updated on: 12 Aug 2018

Definition of cri de coeur

plural cris de coeur play \ˌkrē-də-ˈkər\

: a passionate outcry (as of appeal or protest)

Recent Examples of cri de coeur from the Web

Better keep that cri de coeur to yourself, Charlton Pettus warns in EXIT STRATEGY (Hanover Square, $26.99), or somebody could whisk you off to a new life that might not be entirely to your liking.

— marilyn stasio, New York Times, "Dangerous Disappearing Acts, With Killers in Pursuit," 8 June 2018
Director Lorna Tucker’s documentary Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist, which opens today in Los Angeles after its recent New York unveiling (the film will soon be rolled out nationally), began as a love letter and ended up being a cri de coeur.

— corey seymour, Vogue, "A New Documentary Shines a Light on Vivienne Westwood’s Triumphs—And, More Interestingly, Her Struggles," 15 June 2018
And those journalists deserve to be heralded — just not in this holier-than-thou cinematic cri de coeur.

— kerry lengel, azcentral, "Liberal outrage in Rob Reiner's 'Shock and Awe'," 12 July 2018
But realizing the play’s own kind of mortality—its slow shift from urgent cri de coeur to period piece mined for pertinence—bathes it in a loving new light, one that Elliott teases out gracefully in this production’s finest scenes.

— richard lawson, Vanities, "Review: Angels in America Returns to Broadway in All Its Triumph and Tragedy," 26 Mar. 2018
Today, Season is his cri de coeur about how his plea has gone unheeded.

— clarence tsui, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Season of the Devil' ('Ang Panahon ng Halimaw'): Film Review | Berlin 2018," 20 Feb. 2018
But was any Twitter cri de coeur more visceral than this one, from one Times colleague to another?

— heather schwedel, Slate Magazine, "The Fun May Be Over for New York Times Power Tweeters," 13 Oct. 2017
Their efforts to transcend their station leads to a stark climax that is a silent, anguished and haunting cri de coeur.

— andy webster, New York Times, "Review: ‘Woodpeckers,’ a Tale of Love and Agonizing Penal Confinement," 14 Sep. 2017
There is in the play this sort of cri de coeur from Priestly that's condemning bourgeois greed and narcissism.

— adam green, Vogue, "Downton Abbey's Elizabeth McGovern Returns to Broadway After 25 Years," 7 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cri de coeur.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.