Meaning of cause célèbre | Babel Free

Definitions

1. An issue or incident (originally, a legal case) arousing widespread controversy or public debate.
   UK
2. Alternative spelling of cause célèbre.
   US, alt-of, alternative

Equivalents

Examples

“Getting iced out by the tech giants turned Parler into a cause célèbre for conservatives who complained they were being censored, as well as a test case for the openness of the internet.”

“As Musk has waged this pressure campaign, he has incessantly posted in support of the far right in Europe and their current causes célèbres.”

“Shortly after he left Government service as a translator at the Supreme Court, the cause celebre was the assassination of a radically-minded (Sun Yat-sen supporting) school teacher in his own classroom by gunmen hired by the police chief in Canton.”

“Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who died this week, was a boxer in the United States. He was convicted of a 1966 triple homicide in two trials and became a cause celebre, inspiring Bob Dylan's song Hurricane.”

CEFR level