l'esprit d'escalier

A form of l'esprit de l'escalier — The phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed.

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Meanings

nounl'esprit d'escalier (uncountable)
  1. alternativeuncountableAlternative form of l'esprit de l'escalier.

    'That's understandable,' said May, 'we get it all the time. L'esprit d'escalier—remembering what you should have said too late.'

    2014, Christopher Fowler, Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart (A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery), New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 173
Cite this entry
APA

l'esprit d'escalier. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/l'esprit%20d'escalier

MLA

“l'esprit d'escalier.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/l'esprit%20d'escalier. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “l'esprit d'escalier,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/l'esprit%20d'escalier.

Source: l'esprit d'escalier on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.