Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of or pertaining to François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778;
pen name "Voltaire"),French writer,essayist , andphilosopher known for his wit and defence ofcivil liberties .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Holmes makes a convincing case for the Voltairean smile being all of a piece with the memorable bon mots we associate with this powerful and again pointedly unpious preacher of tolerance.
David Tereshchuk: French Claim for Origins of Investigative Journalism David Tereshchuk 2011
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The main courses were listed in Voltairean mode as "Chateaubriant Auto-da-Fe," "Bombe au Saint Pere", and "Coq be bois pout encourager les autres" sic.
Hugh Muir's diary 2011
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No one took any notice of him, this tall, emaciated old man with his Voltairean face and his fluffy white hair singing hymns as he bounded along.
Portobello Ruth Rendell 2010
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Indeed, it is a wonderfully weird mixture of Voltairean attitudes to religion and Protestant political liberalism; but the Baroque music is worth performing.
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Be capable and Voltairean, discreet of form and substance, tell it like it is, don't gloss over in silent splendor.
Archive 2009-03-01 2009
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Intellectuals dearly love to repeat the pseudo-Voltairean boast I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it, except that they are far more interested in drawing attention to their disapproval than subordinating it to the defense of intellectual freedom.
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Intellectuals dearly love to repeat the pseudo-Voltairean boast I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it, except that they are far more interested in drawing attention to their disapproval than subordinating it to the defense of intellectual freedom.
Archive 2009-08-01 2009
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Be capable and Voltairean, discreet of form and substance, tell it like it is, don't gloss over in silent splendor.
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The emotional colouring of anti-religious polemic is still rather Voltairean – certainly part of the tribal memory of a courageous and persecuted minority.
Archbishop's lecture - Religious Hatred and Religious Offence 2008
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The emotional colouring of anti-religious polemic is still rather Voltairean – certainly part of the tribal memory of a courageous and persecuted minority.
Archbishop's lecture - Religious Hatred and Religious Offence 2008
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