Dictionary.com Word Of The Day
Feb. 11, 2017
noblesse oblige\noh-BLES oh-BLEEZH\noun
1. the moral obligation of those of high birth, powerful social
position, etc., to act with honor, kindliness, generosity, etc.
QuotesThey're high-tech cocooners, utterly lacking in any sense of
noblesse oblige. Even their machines are selfish.
-- Walter Kirn, "Beat the Elite," New York, January 9, 1995
Origin of noblesse obligeHonoré de Balzac uses the phrase noblesse
oblige in his 1835 novel Le Lys dans la Vallée(The Lily of the Valley)
and mentions that it was already old. The phrase entered English in the
mid-19th century.More From Dictionary.comSubmit a favorite word for a
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