Proust

American  

[proost, proost] / prust, prust /

noun

1. Joseph Louis 1754–1826, French chemist.

2. Marcel 1871–1922, French novelist.

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Proust British  

/ prust /

noun

1. Joseph Louis (ʒozɛf lwi). 1754–1826, French chemist, who formulated the law of constant proportions

2. Marcel (marsɛl). 1871–1922, French novelist whose long novel À la recherche du temps perdu (1913–27) deals with the relationship of the narrator to themes such as art, time, memory, and society

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Example Sentences

Marcel Proust wrote in bed; Dalton Trumbo in a bath; Agatha Christie only needed “a steady table and a typewriter.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

Robinson seems to respect the first film as though she was adapting Proust.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 18, 2025

GERWIG: So he would have loved Proust Barbie!

From Seattle Times • Jul. 20, 2023

Indeed, Man Ray’s deathbed photograph of Marcel Proust makes a fitting bookend to Nadar’s of Victor Hugo.

From New York Times • Jun. 1, 2023

I was looking for the tomb of a famous writer—Marcel Proust, I think, or maybe George Sand.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt