au courant

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English

Etymology

Borrowed from French au courant (literally “to the current”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /əʊ kʊˈɹɒn(t)/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Adjective

au courant (comparative more au courant, superlative most au courant)

  1. Up to date; informed about the latest developments; abreast.
    • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis. , volume I, London: Bradbury and Evans, , published 1849, →OCLC, page 135:
      Doctor Portman and Smirke were both cautious of informing the widow of the constant outbreak of calumny which was pursuing poor Pen, though Glanders, who was a friend of the house, kept him au courant.
    • 2013 October 23, Meghan O’Rourke, “Watching American Movies in Paris”, in The Atlantic‎:
      As Hemingway once noted, Paris is an old city—and so even a 1946 film looks au courant: part of the aesthetic air.
    • 2023 February 11, Janan Ganesh, “After Germany's fall, which is the paragon nation?”, in FT Weekend, page 22:
      A paragon from the Global South, as no one I know who lives there calls it, would be very 21st century, very au courant.
    • 2023 March 22, Joseph Bernstein, “Not Your Daddy’s Freud”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
      “Know Your Enemy,” an au courant lefty podcast, has devoted multiple episodes to discussions of Freud, who has become a frequent topic of conversation among the show’s hosts.

Synonyms

Translations

informed — see in the loop

French

Pronunciation

Adjective

au courant (invariable)

  1. up to date, abreast; aware, informed, in the loop
    Synonyms: (informal) au parfum, (informal) au jus
    La mère de Julie est décédée la semaine passée, tu étais au courant ? ― Julie's mother passed away last week – were you aware?

Usage notes

Traditionally invariable, but feminization (as in the expression elle est au courante), though perhaps prescribed, is not unheard-of.

Derived terms

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Sagapedia