variants
also belle-lettrist
as in writer
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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
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
-
The late New Yorker writer Donald Barthleme, an absurdist, is often cited as an example.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
-
And yet every day writers call me from conference rooms at their day jobs, or cramped kitchens with their children, or cars sitting in their driveways—sometimes the only place quiet enough to think.—
David O’Neill,
New Yorker,
20 May 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
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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
-
Hayek Pinault’s hair was tossed up into a slick high bun by stylist Miguel Martin Perez, with makeup provided by artist Wendy Rose.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
18 May 2026
-
Like, as a guy, your mom is your first stylist.—
Darian Symoné Harvin,
Los Angeles Times,
18 May 2026
Noun
-
Video shows a woman walking down the street when a man suddenly attacked her from behind and stabbed her with a pen.—
Steven Yablonski,
CBS News,
19 May 2026
-
Prime lips for a perfectly smooth, even application using the 3-in-1 Lip Scrub pen, which gently scrubs away dead skin with super-fine sugar granules and keeps lips hydrated with nourishing shea butter and algae.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 May 2026
Noun
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While Goodman’s paradoxes and fantasies posed challenges to me as her biographer, with the advent of AI slop and ChatGPT, our courtship with illusion (and possibly delusion) is here to stay.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 May 2026
-
Meacham is a historian and biographer.—
Time,
Time,
12 May 2026
Noun
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The project reflects a strong auteur and LGBTQ+ aligned slate touching on taboo subjects.—
Anna Marie de la Fuente,
Variety,
14 May 2026
-
The acclamation continued to build, and the Spanish auteur was overcome with gratitude — for a few moments.—
Glenn Whipp,
Los Angeles Times,
11 May 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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Belletrist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/belletrist. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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