Word.ws English Dictionary

esprit de l'escalier

esprit de l'escalier is the alternative form of l'esprit de l'escalier.

Meaning of l'esprit de l'escalier

Noun

l'esprit de l'escalier (uncountable)

  1. The phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed.
    • Some last thoughts in l'esprit de l'escalier—afterthoughts descending the stairwell as one remembers things unsaid.2011, Richard Kearney, “Epilogue”, in Anatheism: Returning to God after God (Insurrections), New York, N.Y.; Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, part 3 (Postlude), page 182

Questions about esprit de l'escalier

What is esprit de l'escalier the alternative form of?
Esprit de l'escalier is the alternative form of l'esprit de l'escalier.

Words near esprit de l'escalier in the dictionary

  1. espringals
  2. esprise
  3. esprit
  4. esprit d'escalier
  5. esprit de corps
  6. esprit de l'escalier
  7. esprit fort
  8. ESPs
  9. espundia
  10. espy
  11. espyest

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: esprit de l'escalier (page history and authors); l'esprit de l'escalier (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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