Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Required by the current fashion or custom; socially obligatory.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Strictly required, as by etiquette, usage, rule, etc.; essential; imperative: as, full dress is de rigueur.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- According to strictness (of etiquette, rule, or the like); obligatory; strictly required.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. required by etiquette or usage or fashion
Etymologies
- French : de, of + rigueur, rigor, strictness.
Examples
“Many years ago I saw Harun al-Rashid and the Three Kalandars, with deer-skins and all their properties de rigueur in the court-yard of Government”
“A two-to-three-year stint in China is becoming de rigueur for any Western executive on the rise these days.”
“We decided to try the beet tower and the fatted calf, still listening in as the “girl talk” from the table beside us got louder and drunker and the de rigueur flirting with the obviously gay waiter began.”
“The festive look also conjures up the wonderful silver-screen legend Carmen Miranda, a.k.a. “the Brazilian Bombshell,” whose trademark ruffle-edged dresses gave a shocking nod to her Portuguese roots in an era when neatly tailored skirts and dresses were de rigueur for most actresses on the world stage.”
“From the North London District Hospital where I had been unavoidably detained since the previous evening by circumstances outside my control, I had splashed out on a cab all the way home to Battersea, and made it wait while I quick-changed into my brand-new dinner jacket, this being de rigueur at the proprietor's table, with no chance to shave or shower or brush my teeth.”
the mission song
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘de rigueur’.
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appropriated phrasing
habeas corpus, beau geste, fin de siecle, décolletage, bete noire, manque, bonheur, pièce de résistance, mot juste, beau monde, gri-gri, de rigueur and 6 more...
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Tricky Words from French
Loanwords from French -- both established and wet behind the ears -- that are tricky to spell or pronounce properly.
trompe l'oeil, hors d'oeuvre, oeuvre, objet d'art, objet trouvé, contretemps, milieu, métier, mise en scène, mise en place, éclat, faineant and 64 more...
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Fancy Foreign Words
de facto, Zeitgeist, schadenfreude, apropos, per se, Auteur, tookus, de rigueur, xyst, arrivederci, sotto, troika and 5 more...
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lindaness's list
Ausgezeignet
precision, quite, irregardless, drownded, diaspora, compersion, de rigueur, bodhisattva, dénouement
arby That's helpful, Mercy! I could never remember 1) what it meant or 2) how to spell it.
ETA: Sorry for getting your name wrong. For some reason I keep reading it as Mary. Jun 28, 2008
mercy French expression that literally means "of rigor" or "of strictness", comparable to "the done thing", a standard Jun 27, 2008
seanahan I often hear this word misused. People use it to mean de jour Aug 24, 2007