Synonyms

raison d'être

American

[rey-zohn de-truh, re-zawn de-tr^uh] / ˈreɪ zoʊn ˈdɛ trə, rɛ zɔ̃ ˈdɛ trə /

noun

plural

raisons d'être

reason or justification for being or existence.

Art is the artist's raison d'être.

raison d'être British

/ rɛzɔ̃ dɛtrə /

noun

reason or justification for existence

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

raison d'être Cultural

A basic, essential purpose; a reason to exist: “Professor Naylor argues that in the nuclear age, infantry forces have lost their raison d'être.” From French, meaning “reason for being.”

Etymology

Origin of raison d'être

Borrowed into English from French around 1865–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

That the “The Napa Boys” won’t be everyone’s cup of tea — or in this case, goblet of wine — almost feels like this meta comedy’s raison d’être.

From Los Angeles Times

The raison d’être for all things art-related happening here in late February.

From Los Angeles Times

But, for smaller companies whose AI offerings are their raison d’être, there are pros and cons of the new era.

From The Wall Street Journal

It is also working to build the type of cutting-edge AI agents that some investors think threaten its entire raison d’être.

From The Wall Street Journal

BeReal’s appeal ended the second the app started pushing users to friend randos and post more than once a day, defeating its entire raison d’être.

From Slate

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023