raison d'être

noun

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rai·son d'être | \ ˌrā-ˌzōⁿ-ˈde-trə

, -ˈdetrᵊ \

variants: or less commonly raison d'etre

plural raisons d'être also raisons d'etre\ ˌrā-ˌzōⁿz-ˈde-trə

, -ˈdetrᵊ \

Definition of raison d'être

: reason or justification for existence

Examples of raison d'être in a Sentence

Art is his raison d'être.

Recent Examples on the Web Now the group has been joined by Noam -- a religious party that's main raison d'etre seems to be homophobia. — Sam Kiley, CNN, 22 Feb. 2021 The Environmental Protection Agency's entire raison d'etre, for instance, is safeguarding the environment. — Samuel Gregg, Star Tribune, 27 Jan. 2021 Best of Beauty is Allure's north star, our our raison d'etre, our Super Bowl. — Allure Editors, Allure, 18 Sep. 2020 His wife, six children, their spouses, and his fifteen grandchildren were his raison d'etre. — courant.com, 22 June 2019 Their latest venture is the boy band known as NCT, which seemingly has no boundaries and will result in multiple sub-groups, each with their own distinct raison d'etre. — Tamar Herman, Billboard, 4 July 2018 This is yet another example of why this is an amazing time to be following the launch industry and the raison d'etre for this newsletter. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 22 June 2018 His courageous raison d'etre serves as an inspiration to countless others, from rock stars and celebrities to Bill Gates and former President Barack Obama. — Jeff Duncan, NOLA.com, 6 June 2018 As described by Corrections, evidence pointing to Bruton as a contraband courier formed the checkpoint's raison d'etre. — David J. Neal, miamiherald, 26 Apr. 2018

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

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Statistics for raison d'être

Cite this Entry

“Raison d'être.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/raison%20d%27%C3%AAtre. Accessed 10 Sep. 2021.

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