bien pensant

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See also: bien-pensant

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from French bien-pensant (literally well-thinking).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌbjæ̃ pɒ̃ˈsɒ̃/

Adjective

bien pensant (comparative more bien pensant, superlative most bien pensant)

  1. Right-thinking, orthodox, conformist.
    • 2010 August 23, Bagehot, The Economist:
      He hopes Mr Abbott wins the election in part because it would, he says, annoy bien-pensant British journalists and Leftists who oppose the Australian's positions on things like abortion, gay marriage or climate change.
    • 2017 March 13, Will Hutton, “Utopia for Realists: And How We Can Get There by Rutger Bregman – review”, in The Guardian:
      My biggest beef is the idea that increasingly grips liberal thinkers desperate for anything radical – the concept of a universal income for all. Financially, behaviourally and organisationally bonkers, this idea is gaining traction on the bien pensant left.

Noun

bien pensant (plural bien pensants)

  1. A person who is bien pensant.
  2. Someone who accepts and/or espouses a fashionable idea after it has been established and maintains it without a great amount of critical thought.

French

Pronunciation

  • Audio:(file)

Adjective

bien pensant (feminine bien pensante, masculine plural bien pensants, feminine plural bien pensantes)

  1. Alternative spelling of bien-pensant

Noun

bien pensant m (plural bien pensants)

  1. Alternative spelling of bien-pensant