cri de coeur

See also: cri-de-coeur and cri de cœur

English

Alternative forms

• cri-de-coeur, cri de cœur

Etymology

From French cri du cœur, meaning approximately “a cry from the heart”.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌkɹiː.dəˈkɜː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌkɹi.dəˈkɚ/

Noun

cri de coeur (plural cris de coeur)

1. An impassioned outcry, appeal, protest or entreaty.
   • 2012, Stephen King, 11/22/63, p. 308:

     What do you think of Mr. Salinger's cri de coeur?

   • 2014 May 28, John McWhorter, “Saint Maya”, in The New Republic‎, →ISSN:

     Personal accounts of racial discrimination were eagerly sought by whites seeking to understand "those people," while blacks justly valued them as overdue cris de coeur.

   • 2015 August 27, Michael Signer, “What Happens When Donald Trump Stirs Up 'Passionate' Supporters”, in The Atlantic‎:

     McCarthy’s reign was dangerous, but it lasted only three years, and it was attorney Joseph Welch’s heartfelt cri de Coeur during the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954—“Have you no sense of decency, sir?”—that rang the loudest.

   • 2024 April 22, Ben Sisario, “Mdou Moctar’s Guitar Is a Screaming Siren Against Africa’s Colonial Legacy”, in The New York Times‎, retrieved 2024-05-02:

     But “Funeral for Justice,” due May 3, amps up the urgency in his work. It is a cri de coeur of screaming guitars and lyrics decrying the legacy of colonialism in Niger and throughout Africa, where Western powers retain a strong but not always welcome influence, and political and economic instability are endemic hazards.