BELLETRIST Synonyms: 42 Similar and Opposite Words

belletrist

noun

variants also belle-lettrist

Definition of belletrist

as in writer

Related Words

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Dissimilar Words

nonauthor

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of belletrist The philologists, unlike the belletrists, were methodical and systematic, and given to expounding those methods and systems in lengthy treatises. — Evan Kindley, The New York Review of Books, 16 Feb. 2023 Harrison is almost the textbook example of a belletrist—someone who writes essays more for their aesthetic effect than anything else. — Bill Heavey, WSJ, 16 Sep. 2022 Locke the glossy belletrist gave way to Locke the fellow-traveller, Locke the savvy champion of proletarian realism. — Tobi Haslett, The New Yorker, 11 May 2018

Recent Examples of Synonyms for belletrist

Noun

In 2020, the New York Times identified a network of 1,300 news sites that paid freelance writers to produce biased content for Republican groups and corporate public relations firms.

— Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026
Between 2024 and 2026, first-time directors or writers made more than a third of Netflix’s Korean titles.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of writer

Noun

Clearly, by now — that is, 1835 — science had done enough to prove itself in the eyes of the litterateurs.

— Thomas Moynihan, Big Think, 7 Mar. 2025
The book was first published anonymously, and its authorship is consequently uncertain, though usually attributed to a minor poet and litterateur named Wu Cheng’en.

— Washington Post, Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2021

Definition of litterateur

Noun

Aaron Lee Tasjan, a close friend of Snider’s, will lead a tribute to the witty wordsmith that will also include John Craigie, Elizabeth Cook, Chuck Prophet, Steve Poltz and other guests.

— Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 28 Sep. 2026
Politically savvy, wickedly and playfully witty, and in close touch with humanity’s many facets, Roger Simon was among the most admired newspaper columnists of his generation at a time when that world was rich in that species of wordsmiths.

— Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of wordsmith

Noun

The model called upon a team of stylists to turn her into the creepy and scaly figure of Greek myth.

— Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Oct. 2026
For the event, Mirren and her stylist Lee Harris created a monochrome pink look with a spotlight shone on a Martin Grant gown.

— Amina Ayoud, Footwear News, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of stylist

Noun

Some 104,643 defective pens were returned in the first 8 months of sales.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
Rug Island — named after a season two episode where the characters use their imagination to create an island from a rug, throw cushions and colored pens — comes on a green and orange LP.

— Tim Chan, HollywoodReporter, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of pen

Noun

Decades later, long after Hemingway’s death, in 1961, Carlos Baker, Hemingway’s biographer, told Conrad about some of the letters deriding him.

— Stephen Bates, New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2026
Musk outlined this vision during a conversation with biographer Walter Isaacson on The Builders podcast.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of biographer

Noun

In recent years, Fielder has sealed his reputation as a trickster-auteur with Showtime’s The Curse and HBO’s The Rehearsal.

— Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 19 Oct. 2026
No franchise on this list is more indebted to a single auteur (Wes Craven) and a single actor (Robert Englund), who turned the saga of Freddy Krueger into something uniquely horrifying.

— Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 8 Aug. 2026

Definition of auteur

Browse Nearby Words

belles

belletrist

belletristic

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Cite this Entry

Style

“Belletrist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/belletrist. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of belletrist

noun

Example Sentences

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