grande passion
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From French grande passion (“great passion”).
Noun
[edit]grande passion (plural grandes passions)
- An overwhelming love affair or infatuation for someone.
- 1823, Lord Byron, Don Juan, section XII:
- And if in fact she takes to a grande passion, / It is a very serious thing indeed: / Nine times in ten 't is but caprice or fashion, / Coquetry, or a wish to take the lead […].
- 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre:
- He then said that she was the daughter of a French opera dancer, Céline Varens, toward whom he once cherished what he called a "grande passion".
- 1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Vintage, published 2007, page 45:
- ‘A grande passion is the privilege of people who have nothing to do.’