"savoir-faire" meaning in English

See savoir-faire in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˌsævwɑːˈfɛə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˌsævwɑɹˈfɛɹ/ [US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-savoir-faire.wav
Etymology: Borrowed from French savoir-faire (“know-how”), from savoir (“to know (how)”) + faire (“to do”). Etymology templates: {{bor|en|fr|savoir-faire||know-how}} French savoir-faire (“know-how”) Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} savoir-faire (uncountable)
  1. The ability to do or say what is appropriate for the occasion. Tags: uncountable Synonyms: know-how
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "savoir-faire",
        "4": "",
        "5": "know-how"
      },
      "expansion": "French savoir-faire (“know-how”)",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from French savoir-faire (“know-how”), from savoir (“to know (how)”) + faire (“to do”).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "savoir-faire (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 5 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with tab characters",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1917, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter IX, in The Soul of a Bishop:",
          "text": "Dr. Brighton-Pomfrey had the savoir-faire of a successful consultant; he prided himself on being all things to all men; but just for an instant he was at a loss what sort of thing he had to be here.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The ability to do or say what is appropriate for the occasion."
      ],
      "id": "en-savoir-faire-en-noun-thv--R5-",
      "links": [
        [
          "ability",
          "ability"
        ],
        [
          "say",
          "say"
        ],
        [
          "occasion",
          "occasion"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "know-how"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌsævwɑːˈfɛə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌsævwɑɹˈfɛɹ/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-savoir-faire.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/64/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-savoir-faire.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-savoir-faire.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/64/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-savoir-faire.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-savoir-faire.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "savoir-faire"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "savoir-faire",
        "4": "",
        "5": "know-how"
      },
      "expansion": "French savoir-faire (“know-how”)",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from French savoir-faire (“know-how”), from savoir (“to know (how)”) + faire (“to do”).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "savoir-faire (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms borrowed from French",
        "English terms derived from French",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Pages with 5 entries",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Pages with tab characters"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1917, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter IX, in The Soul of a Bishop:",
          "text": "Dr. Brighton-Pomfrey had the savoir-faire of a successful consultant; he prided himself on being all things to all men; but just for an instant he was at a loss what sort of thing he had to be here.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The ability to do or say what is appropriate for the occasion."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "ability",
          "ability"
        ],
        [
          "say",
          "say"
        ],
        [
          "occasion",
          "occasion"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌsævwɑːˈfɛə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌsævwɑɹˈfɛɹ/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-savoir-faire.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/64/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-savoir-faire.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-savoir-faire.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/64/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-savoir-faire.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-savoir-faire.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "know-how"
    }
  ],
  "word": "savoir-faire"
}

Download raw JSONL data for savoir-faire meaning in English (1.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.