je ne sais quoi

(zhə′ nə sā kwä′, sĕ)

A quality or attribute that is difficult to describe or express.

[French : je, I + ne, not + sais : first person present indicative of savoir, to know + quoi, what.]

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.

je ne sais quoi

(ʒənsekwa)

an indefinable quality, esp of personality

[literally: I don't know what]

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

je ne sais quoi

(ʒən^ə sɛ ˈkwa)
n.
French.

an indefinable, elusive quality, esp. a pleasing one.

[literally, I don't know what]

je ne sais quoi

A French phrase meaning I don’t know what, used to mean something that you find hard to define or specify.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

je ne sais quoi - something indescribable

object, physical object - a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow; "it was full of rackets, balls and other objects"

Translations

je ne sais quoi

Mentioned in

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Des femmes et des hommes sae1/4aoen vont tous les jours planter le fruit de leur labeur pour ne pas tomber dans lae1/4aooisivetUu[c], ses vices et la prUu[c]caritUu[c] de la vie quae1/4aoelle engendre Uu force de lui vouer son temps, son corps et son UuAomeae1/4A* Ces travailleurs de lae1/4aoautre Uu[c]poque ont ce je ne sais quoi de valeureux, de dignitUu[c] et dae1/4aoindUu[c]pendance que nul pUu[c]riode de lae1/4aoannUu[c]e, fUu[beaucoup plus grand que]t-elle la plus sainte ou la plus religieuse soit-elle, ne saurait leur UuA[sup.3]ter.

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