Meanings
- not comparableIn the clear; without any encryption.
So it was that Chartier was forced to telegramme en clair, meaning that his contacts with Vichy were open for all to read and were thus largely confined to run-of-the-mill information.
2003, Nicholas Atkin, “Agents consulaires or agents provocateurs?”, in The Forgotten French: Exiles in the British Isles, 1940–44, Manchester; New York, N.Y.: Manchester University Press, →ISBN, chapter 4 (The surveillance of exile: the Vichy consulates), page 1581 more example
As per Berchtold's instructions, Giesl stopped in the border town of Semlin and wired the news immediately, en clair, such that Tisza, in Budapest, learned of Serbia's rejection even before 7 PM.
2014, Sean McMeekin, 7/1/2014: Countdown to War, page 201
Origin
- Frenchen clair
- Frenchen clair
- Englishen clair
Borrowed from French en clair.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
en clair. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/en%20clair
“en clair.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/en%20clair. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “en clair,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/en%20clair.
Source: en clair on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.