monstre sacré

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English

Etymology

From French monstre sacré (literally holy monster).

Noun

monstre sacré (plural monstres sacrés)

  1. A striking, unusual public figure; an eccentric celebrity.
    • 1994 [1976], Patrick O'Brian, Picasso: A Biography, London: Harvill, page 372:
      [] Picasso changed, or was changed, from a capital painter, known as such a painter should be known, into a monstre sacré, a holy cow surrounded with an enormous, self-perpetuating, inescapable, and generally irrelevant notoriety.
    • 2002 January 27, Jann Parry, The Observer:
      Ken Russell's BBC film (with Vivian Pickles) and Kenneth MacMillan's Isadora ballet portrayed her as a grotesque monstre sacre.
    • 2023 December 31, Agnès Poirier, “Evoking genius to defend ‘dark stars’ like Gérard Depardieu looks very French – and it is”, in The Observer, →ISSN:
      They call him the last monstre sacré (an expression coined by Jean Cocteau to describe Sarah Bernhardt), adding that “attacking Depardieu is attacking art. []

French

Etymology

Literally, holy monster, used by Jean Cocteau to describe Sarah Bernhardt.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɔ̃s.tʁə sa.kʁe/

Noun

monstre sacré m (plural monstres sacrés)

  1. (figuratively) giant, celebrity (undisputed authority in a certain field)
    • 1954, Françoise Sagan, Bonjour Tristesse:
      Je passai près d’une heure agréable avec lui mais Elsa s’ennuyait. Elle connaissait un ou deux monstres sacrés mais la technique ne l’intéressait pas.
      I spent nearly an hour in pleasant conversation with him, but Elsa was bored. She knew one or two big names , but the technique did not interest her.
    • 2015 June 15, “E3 : « Doom », les limites de la surenchère gore”, in Le Monde:
      Un monstre sacré de l’histoire du jeu vidéo s’apprête à faire son retour, au printemps 2016, et on a presque eu envie d’en savoir plus.
      A giant of video gaming history is about to make its return, in spring 2016, and we're nearly ready to know more about it.

Descendants

  • English: monstre sacré
  • Romanian: monstru sacru (calque)

See also