Petit maître

noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A fop or dandy. archaic

    "The unfortunate petit maitre, driven to the extremity of his condescension, acknowledged it to be a masterly refinement […]."

  2. 2
    A lesser master of something, especially of some artistic skill; a minor talent. derogatory

    "Monstrous critical overkill of an even more up-market kind has transformed the Argentinian petit maître, Borges, into one of the Great Writers of our Time and his most recent collection, The Book of Sand […] shows signs that he is content humbly to acquiesce in this opinion."

Etymology

From French petit-maître.

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