beau geste

(bō zhĕst′)

n. pl. beaux gestes or beau gestes (bō zhĕst′)

1. A gracious gesture.

2. A gesture noble in form but meaningless in substance.

[French : beau, noble + geste, gesture.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

beau geste

(bo ʒɛst)

n, pl beaux gestes (bo ʒɛst)

a noble or gracious gesture or act, esp one that is meaningless

[literally: beautiful gesture]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

beau geste

(boʊ ˈʒɛst)

n., pl. beaux gestes (boʊ ˈʒɛst)
French.

a fine or noble gesture, often futile or made only for effect.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

beau geste - a gracious (but usually meaningless) gesture

gesture - something done as an indication of intention; "a political gesture"; "a gesture of defiance"

beau geste

noun

An act requiring special generosity:

compliment, courtesy, favor.

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

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history

He starred in a number of big movies including Beau Geste (1939), The Man with the X-ray Eyes (1963) and Terror in the Wax Museum (1973).

Boy from Neath who went on to be a Hollywood star

It introduced me to Jeeves and Wooster, to Beau Geste and Bulldog Drummond and, later, to Mr Micawber and the Musketeers, to Poirot and Mr Polly.

A STEP BACKWARDS FOR CITY'S VITAL LIBRARIES

Le Congo Brazzaville, le Gabon, le Niger, la Somalie, la Cote d'Ivoire, le Senegal, le Kosovo, la Jordanie, la Tunisie et la Libye sont tous des pays ayant beneficie du beau geste du Royaume''.

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A noter le beau geste des fans kabyles qui ont rendu hommage aux deux enfants Brahim et Haroun recemment assassines a Constantine en presentant leurs condoleances aux Constantinois a travers deux grandes banderoles accrochees sur les gradins.

Les Canaris stoppes dans leur elan