au courant

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French au courant (literally “to the current”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əʊ kʊˈɹɒn(t)/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

au courant (comparative more au courant, superlative most au courant)

1. Up to date; informed about the latest developments; abreast.
   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis. […], volume I, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849, →OCLC, page 135:

     Doctor Portman and Smirke were both cautious of informing the widow of the constant outbreak of calumny which was pursuing poor Pen, though Glanders, who was a friend of the house, kept him au courant.

   • 2013 October 23, Meghan O’Rourke, “Watching American Movies in Paris”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:

     As Hemingway once noted, Paris is an old city—and so even a 1946 film looks au courant: part of the aesthetic air.

   • 2023 February 11, Janan Ganesh, “After Germany's fall, which is the paragon nation?”, in FT Weekend, page 22:

     A paragon from the Global South, as no one I know who lives there calls it, would be very 21st century, very au courant.

   • 2023 March 22, Joseph Bernstein, “Not Your Daddy’s Freud”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     “Know Your Enemy,” an au courant lefty podcast, has devoted multiple episodes to discussions of Freud, who has become a frequent topic of conversation among the show’s hosts.

Synonyms

• au parfum

Translations

informed — see in the loop

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o ku.ʁɑ̃/

  • Audio

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ̃

Adjective

au courant (invariable)

1. up to date, abreast; aware, informed, in the loop

   Synonyms: (informal) au parfum, (informal) au jus

   La mère de Julie est décédée la semaine passée, tu étais au courant ? ― Julie's mother passed away last week – were you aware?

Usage notes

Traditionally invariable, but feminization (as in the expression elle est au courante), though perhaps prescribed, is not unheard-of.

Derived terms

• être au courant
• mettre au courant
• tenir au courant