arrière-pensée
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French arrière-pensée.
Noun edit
arrière-pensée (plural arrière-pensées or (proscribed) arrières-pensées)
- A mental reservation or ulterior motive.
- 1884, Henry James, “The Path of Duty”, in The English Illustrated Magazine, 2(15): 240-256:
- He knew that I had guessed his arrière-pensée, but he let me off for the moment, for which I was thankful; either because he was still ashamed of it, or because he supposed I was reserving myself for the catastrophe,—should it occur.
French edit
Etymology edit
Literally, “behind-thought”.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
arrière-pensée f (plural arrière-pensées)
Further reading edit
- “arrière-pensée”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French arrière-pensée.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
arrière-pensée m or f by sense (invariable)
- arrière-pensée (both senses)