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soi-disant

/ˌˈswɑ diˌzɑnt/
IPA guide

If you refer to yourself as a doctor even though you never actually went to medical school, you are a soi-disant, or self-styled, doctor. Please don't try to operate on anyone.

This adjective is a stylish replacement for terms like "so-called," "self-styled," or "would-be." Your friend who appears loud and outgoing everywhere she goes, but describes herself as shy, is a soi-disant shy person. The word is also used in a legal context when the law disagrees with a person's self description, like the soi-disant ruler of a country who has illegally seized power. In French, soi means "oneself," and disant is "saying."

Definitions of soi-disant
  1. adjective
    as claimed by and for yourself often without justification
    synonyms: self-styled
    questionable
    subject to question
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