soi-disant

/ˌswɑːdiːˈzɒ̃//swa diˈzɑn/

adjective

Of a person: self-styled, self-proclaimed, with implications of pretence or dishonesty.

“a soi-disant pedigree”

Similar
self-styledquestionable
OriginFrench soi-disant →
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Meanings

adjectivesoi-disant (not comparable)
  1. not comparableOf a person: self-styled, self-proclaimed, with implications of pretence or dishonesty.

    Geoffrey had gone out for a ride and returned suffering from complicated loss of memory. At the same time there had appeared on the scene the soi-disant Dr. Olivant.

    1934, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], The Bravo of London
    1 more example

    Moreover, Lady Dudley flattered herself with filling the next best part to the principal, that of confidante with Mrs. Courtenaye. Constance had, however, too much good taste, as well as good feeling, for this; she had betrayed her jealousy, not confessed it. Still, this was enough for her soi-disant friend, who went on torturing her with stories about Lady Marchmont's powers of fascination, and Lady Marchmont's coquetry.

    1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 93–94
  2. not comparableOf a thing: claimed to be something it is not; pretended, so-called.

    a soi-disant pedigree

    3 more examples

    cicumstances which appear to have influenced his soi-disant historical labours.

    1845, John Wilson Croker, s: Ess. French Revolution

    Among the delusions which at different periods have possessed themselves of the minds of large masses of the human race, perhaps the most curious -- certainly the least creditable -- is the modern soi-disant science of political economy, based on the idea that an advantageous code of social action may be determined irrespectively of the influence of social affection.

    1860, John Ruskin, Unto This Last, Cornhill

    "Fuck You, Buddy" is the first part in a series (The Trap - What Happened to Our Dreams of Freedom, Sunday, BBC2) about civil liberties: the keen-eared wireless listener will have been alerted to its soi-disant intellectual credentials by the fact that they are trailing it on Radio 4.

    2007 March 12, Zoe Williams, “The weekend's TV”, in The Guardian
adverbsoi-disant (not comparable)
  1. not comparableSupposedly.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveas claimed by and for yourself often without justification

Similar
self-styledquestionable
Also see
self-appointedself-proclaimedself-styled

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Frenchsoi-disant
  2. Frenchsoi-disant
  3. Englishsoi-disant

Borrowed from French soi-disant.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

soi-disant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soi-disant

MLA

“soi-disant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soi-disant. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “soi-disant,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soi-disant.

Source: soi-disant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.