monstre sacré

English

Etymology

From French monstre sacré (literally “holy monster”).

Noun

monstre sacré (plural monstres sacrés)

1. A striking, unusual public figure; an eccentric celebrity.
   • 1994 [1976], Patrick O'Brian, Picasso: A Biography, London: Harvill, page 372:

     […] Picasso changed, or was changed, from a capital painter, known as such a painter should be known, into a monstre sacré, a holy cow surrounded with an enormous, self-perpetuating, inescapable, and generally irrelevant notoriety.

   • 2002 January 27, Jann Parry, The Observer:

     Ken Russell's BBC film (with Vivian Pickles) and Kenneth MacMillan's Isadora ballet portrayed her as a grotesque monstre sacre.

   • 2023 December 31, Agnès Poirier, “Evoking genius to defend ‘dark stars’ like Gérard Depardieu looks very French – and it is”, in The Observer‎^[1], →ISSN:

     They call him the last monstre sacré (an expression coined by Jean Cocteau to describe Sarah Bernhardt), adding that “attacking Depardieu is attacking art. […] ”

French

Etymology

Literally, “holy monster”, used by Jean Cocteau to describe Sarah Bernhardt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔ̃s.tʁə sa.kʁe/

Noun

monstre sacré m (plural monstres sacrés)

1. (figuratively) giant, celebrity (undisputed authority in a certain field)
   • 1954, Françoise Sagan, Bonjour Tristesse:

     Je passai près d’une heure agréable avec lui mais Elsa s’ennuyait. Elle connaissait un ou deux monstres sacrés mais la technique ne l’intéressait pas.

     I spent nearly an hour in pleasant conversation with him, but Elsa was bored. She knew one or two big names [in theatre], but the technique did not interest her.

   • 2015 June 15, “E3 : « Doom », les limites de la surenchère gore”, in Le Monde:

     Un monstre sacré de l’histoire du jeu vidéo s’apprête à faire son retour, au printemps 2016, et on a presque eu envie d’en savoir plus.

     A giant of video gaming history is about to make its return, in spring 2016, and we're nearly ready to know more about it.

Descendants

• → English: monstre sacré
• → Romanian: monstru sacru (calque)

See also

• vache sacrée