Polyglot Dictionary

esprit d'escalier

/ɛs.pʁi dɛs.ka.lje/

le noun C1

le (masc.) la (fem.)

Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.

N Register Neutral Era Current Frequency Academic Domain General Tone Neutral

Meaning

  1. the witty comeback you only think of after the moment has passed (literally "staircase wit")

    Built from esprit (wit, mind) + escalier (staircase).

N Category Thing Concreteness Concrete Animacy Inanimate Countability Countable Scope Individual

Made of

  • esprit wit, mind
  • escalier staircase

Usage notes

Literally "staircase wit" — the perfect retort that only comes to mind once you're already leaving, too late to use it. German has its own version of this exact idea: Treppenwitz.

Practice

1 What does esprit d'escalier mean?

2 Fill the gap: Il a eu l'esprit d'___ et n'a trouvé la bonne réplique qu'une heure plus tard.

3 Which fingerprint chart matches esprit d'escalier?

nouncompound

Last updated

Polydi the frog

Meet Polydi

Polydi is the adventurous, curious frog behind this dictionary — always jumping after one more word, following each entry's links just to see where they lead.

He's honest about what he knows and what he doesn't yet, so every entry comes with a quick practice question. And he likes keeping track of things, which is exactly why "My words" exists: save a word, and Polydi makes sure you actually come back and test yourself on it.

Jump in. Learn a word. Test yourself.

  • Curious
  • Honest
  • Keeps track