sans gêne
English
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editEtymology
editBorrowed from French sans gêne.
Noun
editsans gêne (uncountable)
- Lack of constraint; brazenness; unreservedness (unabashed behavior, disregard for societal constraints)
- 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 46”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
- The rogue, like the artist and perhaps the gentleman, belongs to no class. He is not embarrassed by the sans gene of the hobo, nor put out of countenance by the etiquette of the prince.
Translations
editlack of constraint
|
Adjective
editsans gêne (not comparable)
- Without constraint, unembarrassed.
- 1853, Theodore Winthrop, The Canoe and the Saddle, chapter X:
- Loolowcan was evidently at home among these compatriots, frowzier even than he. He squatted among them, sans gêne, and lighted his pipe. One of the ladies did the honors, and motioned me to a seat upon a rusty bear-skin.
French
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