How do you pronounce "belles-lettres"?

Pronounced //ˌbɛlˈlɛtɹ(ə)//.

Belles-lettres

Q: What is a synonym for "belles-lettres"?

Common synonyms include: ancient literature, belles lettres, classics, contemporary literature, erotic literature, erotica.

//ˌbɛlˈlɛtɹ(ə)// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
The humanities. obsolete, uncountable
2
creative writing valued for esthetic content wordnet
3
Literature, particularly light compositions valued for their aesthetic properties. archaic, uncountable
"That vapid, half naturalized term ‘belles-lettres,’ which has had some currency as a substitute for the term ‘literature.’"
4
Literary studies, particularly literary aesthetics. archaic, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

ancient literature belles lettres classics contemporary literature erotic literature erotica

Example

More examples

"I corrected the punctuation somewhat, but not rigorously, because that is less important in belles-lettres."

Etymology

Borrowed from French belles-lettres (“fine writings”), a parallel construction with the beaux arts (“fine arts”). Littré considered the belles-lettres to embrace grammar, rhetoric, and poetry. Sense embracing all of the humanities under the influence of Latin literae humaniores.

Related phrases

belle-lettrist

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.