Voltaire

American  

[vohl-tair, vol-, vawl-ter] / voʊlˈtɛər, vɒl-, vɔlˈtɛr /

noun

1. François Marie Arouet, 1694–1778, French philosopher, historian, satirist, dramatist, and essayist.

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Voltaire British  

/ vəʊl-, vɔltɛr, vɒlˈtɛə /

noun

1. pseudonym of François Marie Arouet. 1694–1778, French writer, whose outspoken belief in religious, political, and social liberty made him the embodiment of the 18th-century Enlightenment. His major works include Lettres philosophiques (1734) and the satire Candide (1759). He also wrote plays, such as Zaïre (1732), poems, and scientific studies. He suffered several periods of banishment for his radical views

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Voltaire Cultural  

1. The nom de plume of François Arouet, an eighteenth-century French philosopher and author and a major figure of the Enlightenment. Voltaire was known as a wit and freethinker. The most famous of his works is Candide.

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Other Word Forms

• Voltairean adjective
• Voltairian adjective

Compare meaning

How does voltaire compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Voltaire vs. Rousseau

Example Sentences

As Voltaire warned, “Truly, whoever is able to make you absurd is able to make you unjust.”

From Salon • Jan. 15, 2026

When Deffand was asked to contribute her letters to Voltaire to a posthumous edition of his correspondence, she refused; she did not want to give posterity “any occasion for myself to be spoken of.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

The restaurant is housed at the Consulat Voltaire, an old electricity sub-station turned cultural centre, in the 11th district of Paris near the place de la Bastille.

From Barron's • Oct. 11, 2025

That famous quotation that is always misattributed to Voltaire, “I despise what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.”

From Slate • Sep. 22, 2025

In the hands of Voltaire, say, or Jonathan Swiff, these accounts stimulated a new perspective on European society, forcing a reconsideration of that insular world.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan