Dictionary

belletristic en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /bɛl.lɛˈtɹɪs.tɪk/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree English belletrist Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English belletristic From belletrist + -ic.

Meanings

1. Of, pertaining to, or having the characteristics of belles-lettres.
   • […] if they do not owe their allegiance to shamanism or Buddhism, then most surely they commit themselves to some perverse form of Confucianism or belletristic foolishness. 1986, Aizawa Seishisai (Translated by Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi), Anti-Foreignism and Western Learning in Early-Modern Japan: The New Theses of 1825, Harvard University Press, page 169
   • The guest list was a roll call of belletristic London. 2002, Joseph O'Connor, Star of the Sea, Vintage, published 2003, page 229:
2. Written or appreciated for aesthetic value rather than content
   • I had already concluded that not one of my writings was publishable, having myself analyzed the faults of my belletristic production. 1992, Isaac Bashevis Singer (Translated by Leonard Wolf), The Certificate, Farrar Straus Giroux, page 1

Forms

Deriveds

belletristically

Relateds

belletrist

Translations (4)

pl beletrystyczny (pertaining to belles-lettres) · de belletristisch (pertaining to belles-lettres) · hu szépirodalmi (pertaining to belles-lettres) · de schöngeistig (pertaining to belles-lettres)