fin de siècle
/ˌfæn də siˈɛklə/
fin de siècle adjective: pertaining to the close of the 19th century, usually suggesting a literary and artistic climate of modernism, world-weariness, and self-indulgence.
Adjective
fin de siècle (not comparable)
- Pertaining to the close of the 19th century, usually suggesting a literary and artistic climate of modernism, world-weariness, and self-indulgence.
- The fin-de-siècle phenomenon has, of course, received considerable attention from historians in the recent past—a testament to its appeal. […] They also tend to concentrate on individual as well as social alienation as particularly characteristic of the fin-de-siècle feeling.1990, Mikulas Teich, Roy Porter, Fin de Siècle and Its Legacy, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 3
- Pertaining to the close of the 20th (or any other) century.
- And, Dag, have you ever noticed that your bungalow looks more like it belongs to a pair of Eisenhower era Allentown, Pennsylvania newlyweds than it does to a fin de siècle existentialist poseur?1991, Douglas Coupland, “Eat Your Parents”, in Generation X, New York: St. Martin's Press, →OCLC, page 85
Noun
fin de siècle (plural fins de siècle)
- The closing era of any century; (loosely) the end of any era.
- From these conversations, most of which took place on the condition of anonymity to speak freely, a picture emerged in which America's closest allies are looking on with a kind of stunned incomprehension, unsure of what will happen, what it means, and what they should do, largely bound together...2020 June 24, Tom McTague, “The Decline of the American World”, in The Atlantic
Forms of fin de siècle
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | fin-de-siècle |
| alternative form | fin de siecle |
| Noun | |
| plural | fins de siècle |
Origin of fin de siècle
Borrowed from French fin-de-siècle (literally “end of the century”).
Questions about fin de siècle
- What does fin de siècle mean?
- Fin de siècle means pertaining to the close of the 19th century, usually suggesting a literary and artistic climate of modernism, world-weariness, and self-indulgence.
- What part of speech is fin de siècle?
- Fin de siècle can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce fin de siècle?
- Fin de siècle is pronounced /ˌfæn də siˈɛklə/.
Words near fin de siècle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: fin de siècle (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-fin de siècle.wav, En-US-fin de siecle.wav.
Cite this entry: “fin de siècle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fin_de_si%C3%A8cle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.