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comme il faut. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
comme il faut, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
comme il faut in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
comme il faut you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
Borrowed from French comme il faut (literally “as is necessary, as must be”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
comme il faut (comparative more comme il faut, superlative most comme il faut)
- Proper; in keeping with etiquette or social standards.
1838 (date written), L E L[andon], chapter XXIII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. , volume I, London: Henry Colburn, , published 1842, →OCLC, page 296:"Georgiana, put on your blue muslin, and ask Fanchette to make your hair a little comme-il-faut; and pray try to look well and cheerful; you were not up late, and ought to appear the better for it."
- 2007: Talking during performances is perfectly comme il faut in Wharton – why else go to a show if not to talk to one’s friends? – so while Miss Shaw, up to her bosom in dirt, went on about existence, I asked my female companion for advice. — Deborah Friedell, ‘Short Cuts’, London Review of Books 29:5
Translations
proper; in keeping with etiquette or social standards
French
Etymology
Literally, “as it behoves, as it must be”.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kɔ.m‿il fo/, (informal) /kɔ.mi.fo/
Adverb
comme il faut
- properly (the way it should be done)
- properly, really (intensifier)
Adjective
comme il faut
- proper, decent
- des gens comme il faut ― decent people
Usage notes
- Sometimes carries a negative connotation of blandness and overconventionality.
- Not to be confused with comme il se doit.
Conjugation
See falloir. Only conjugated in the third person singular.
Descendants