Pièce de résistance is phrase that is taken directly from the French and used as an English phrase. Such phrases are called loan phrases or borrowed phrases. We will examine the meaning of the expression pièce de résistance, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.
The pièce de résistance is the most standout aspect of an event, attraction or group. The pièce de résistance is the most interesting and impressive feature in any given situation. Most experts agree that the phrase pièce de résistance comes from the lexicon of French restaurants that was popular in the mid-1800s. The pièce de résistance was the main course. Some believe that the translation of the phrase is “the piece with staying power”, though there is some discussion about that interpretation. The plural form of pièce de résistance is pièces de résistance. Note that the phrase is correctly rendered with accents, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, following the French spelling. However, it is often seen without the accents as in piece de resistance.
Examples
The award-winning work belongs to a group of his pieces that utilizing sports — “Parkour Deux,” “Boxing with Mozart,” “Rocky vs. Baryshnikov,” and his skateboarding pièce de résistance, “One Fell Swoop.” (The Mercury News)
The 39-year-old Franco, who has now directed some 18 movies, has long been drawn to all things meta, and, on that score, “The Disaster Artist” is his piece de resistance. (The San Francisco Chronicle)
But out of the items that will be available through Labor Day, the pièces de résistance are undoubtedly the series of artisanal Werregue baskets, all of which are extremely large in scale. (Vogue Magazine)