beau monde

[ boh mond; French boh mawnd ]

noun

1. the fashionable world; high society.

beau monde

/ ˈbəʊ ˈmɒnd; bo mɔ̃d /

noun

1. the world of fashion and society

Word History and Origins

Origin of beau monde¹

1705–15; < French: literally, fine world. See beau, monde

Word History and Origins

Origin of beau monde¹

C18: French, literally: fine world

Example Sentences

Once upon a time, Slim Aarons would have been the one to capture such beau monde happenings.

From New York Times

Comparing the West to Nazi Germany, the Russian leader laced his speech with derision for the “political beau monde” in Europe and the United States, and for the “slave-like” Russians who supported it.

From New York Times

The largest are more than 10 feet tall, and they’re profuse with Mediterranean color that must have startled the Russian beau monde at cocktail hour.

From New York Times

If there were a moment that epitomized the English beau monde’s self-styled insouciance in the face of the London Blitz, it took place in April 1941, at the Savoy Hotel.

From New York Times

She would sit and talk long into the night with the flamboyant artist Francis Bacon and the rest of that decade's rakish beau monde.

From BBC