raconteur

noun

ra·con·teur ˌra-ˌkän-ˈtər

-kən-

: a person who excels in telling anecdotes

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Raconteur Has Old French Roots

If you’re a sage of sagas, a bard of ballads, or a pro in prose, you may have lost count of the accounts you’ve recounted. Some might call you a recounter, but as a master of narrative form you may find that recounter lacks a certain je ne sais quoi. Sure, it has a cool story—it traces back to the Latin verb computere, meaning “to count”—but so do many words: compute and computer, count and account, and neither last nor least, raconteur, a singsong title better fit for a whimsical storyteller. English speakers borrowed raconteur from French in the early 19th century.

Examples of raconteur in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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Jim Dobson is an award-winning writer, author, and raconteur. —

Jim Dobson, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024 Lucky for us, Alfonso Cuarón is exactly that kind of raconteur. —

Ben Travers, IndieWire, 11 Oct. 2024 In a transfixing performance that balances colorful affectation with raw hunger, the actor makes Lee a magnetic raconteur whose shield of worldly composure falls away as Eugene (Drew Starkey) eludes his grasp, leaving him a virtual ghost by the end of the film. —

David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2024 The raconteur ruffled feathers running the store, attracting unsavory and unruly crowds while constantly fighting with alders, community leaders and police. —

Justin Kaufmann, Axios, 1 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for raconteur