belletrist

variants also belle-lettrist
Definition of belletristnext

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
  • Chris Kirschner is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the New York Yankees.
    Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
  • The first of these—a cult favorite among writers, particularly youngish women writers—put Lemann on the map as a singular stylist, capable of crystalline insights into the miscreants and oddballs of the American South and great bursts of unrestrained sentiment.
    Brandy Jensen, New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Reflecting this, in 1726’s Gulliver’s Travels, the Irish litterateur Jonathan Swift satirized early scientists as buffoons.
    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
Noun
  • But Fleming leaps past other wry wordsmiths with his constant, unrelenting effort to wring every last drop of laughter out of every single premise.
    John Roy, Vulture, 19 Feb. 2026
  • An outstanding producer and a clever wordsmith.
    Victoria Uwumarogie, Essence, 27 Jan. 2026
Noun
  • This look by stylist Cherin Choi seamlessly blends subtle highlights with the client’s natural color for some barely-there color.
    Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 4 Apr. 2026
  • The actor and her stylist, Law Roach, saved the most spectacular outfit for last.
    ABC News, ABC News, 3 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • At the front of the property, guests are greeted by Garden Valley Manor, a retirement pen for the goats that have already given enough to the farm and are now finishing out their days in leisure.
    Nora Heston Tarte, Mercury News, 6 Apr. 2026
  • My Bedroom Black, flexing her pen on each release.
    Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 6 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • The Inside Story, royal biographer Robert Hardman wrote that the monarch was anxious about staying in Scotland as Liz Truss was appointed prime minister—a duty that was always carried out at Buckingham Palace in London.
    Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 9 Apr. 2026
  • As her health quietly declined in 2022, the late monarch focused not on ceremony, but on creating lasting moments with the youngest members of the royal family at Balmoral Castle, according to a new book by royal biographer Robert Hardman via The Daily Mail.
    Stephanie Giang-Paunon , Ashley Papa, FOXNews.com, 8 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • The answer, however, will determine part of the future in international of a truly groundbreaking auteur-empowering TV production for which both HBO and Corral have come to be renowned.
    John Hopewell, Variety, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Both actors are fairly new entrants to the A-list, and equally committed to working with up-and-coming auteurs (Josh Safdie and Ryan Coogler, respectively); Chalamet’s and Jordan’s status helped get the directors’ blockbuster original features made.
    David Sims, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Miley admires the Shakes enough to have invited their Sound & Color engineer, Shawn Everett, to join Something Beautiful’s production crew (also present: Cyrus’s punk-rock significant other, Maxx Morando; pop penman Michael Pollack; and members of indie-rock acts Foxygen and Alvvays).
    Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 June 2025
  • Its design by Leonardo Fioravanti, the prolific penman who created, among other Ferrari masterpieces, the Dino and 308 GTB, was an instant hit.
    Robert Ross, Robb Report, 28 Nov. 2023

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Cite this Entry

“Belletrist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/belletrist. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.

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