grand seigneur

/ ɡrɑ̃ sɛɲœr /

noun

1. ironic.
   a dignified or aristocratic man

Word History and Origins

Origin of grand seigneur¹

literally: great lord

Example Sentences

“Mow cher—naturally—what else could he say? He adores his wife. He wants to save her! He tells his lie very well—quite in the grand Seigneur manner, but what else than a lie could it be?”

From Literature

The massive new volume “Beaton: Photographs,” out next week from Abrams, presents an expansive chronological survey of Cecil Beaton’s career, with images spanning more than half a century, from the nineteen-twenties, when Beaton was first experimenting with portraiture, using his sisters as models, through the late seventies, by which time he was a grand seigneur of the form.

From The New Yorker

The contest points to the somewhat ambiguous legacy of Japan’s Italian manager Alberto Zaccheroni, a grand seigneur of Serie A who won the Italian league in 1999 with AC Milan.

From Washington Times

Becker is not so much grand seigneur now as mischievous uncle, forever armed with pith and wisdom.

From The Guardian

Only every Rothwell at the Place, even to the last, had an air of being a grand seigneur, which this fellow can't very well have.

From Project Gutenberg