bien pensant

See also: bien-pensant

English

Alternative forms

• bien-pensant

Etymology

Borrowed from French bien-pensant (literally “well-thinking”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌbjæ̃ pɒ̃ˈsɒ̃/

Adjective

bien pensant (comparative more bien pensant, superlative most bien pensant)

1. Right-thinking, orthodox, conformist.
   • 2010 August 23, Bagehot, The Economist:

     He hopes Mr Abbott wins the election in part because it would, he says, annoy bien-pensant British journalists and Leftists who oppose the Australian's positions on things like abortion, gay marriage or climate change.

   • 2017 March 13, Will Hutton, “Utopia for Realists: And How We Can Get There by Rutger Bregman – review”, in The Guardian‎:

     My biggest beef is the idea that increasingly grips liberal thinkers desperate for anything radical – the concept of a universal income for all. Financially, behaviourally and organisationally bonkers, this idea is gaining traction on the bien pensant left.

Noun

bien pensant (plural bien pensants)

1. A person who is bien pensant.
2. Someone who accepts and/or espouses a fashionable idea after it has been established and maintains it without a great amount of critical thought.

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

bien pensant (feminine bien pensante, masculine plural bien pensants, feminine plural bien pensantes)

1. Alternative spelling of bien-pensant

Noun

bien pensant m (plural bien pensants)

1. Alternative spelling of bien-pensant