(Source)

Now, you may be raising your eyebrows at sans, wondering whether it's necessary when you already know the word without. Well, you don't need it, but isn't it fun to have a weird, sophisticated alternative? Plus, if you know sans, then you can understand random French phrases, like sans souci. When someone says they're sans souci, they're without cares, without worries; they're __souci___ ("not concerned, not bothered, and not worried"). Can you recall that word?

If you kind of squint at the word sans, you can see how it traces to the Latin sine, which also means "without." That means sans is cousins with the terms below. See if you can recall them:

1. A paid position that doesn't require any work at all is a sine____. (That's one word.)

2. A thing that happens continually, without a certain day planned for it to stop or change, happens sine_d__. (That's two words. It's Latin for "without day.")

3. The one part of something that's absolutely basic, important, and necessary is the sine__q___n___. (That's three words. It's Latin for "without which, not.")

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) 

"Sans" came through French from the Latin word for "not."

It means "without, lacking, or missing: not having some specific thing."

As in, "YouTube premium lets you watch videos sans ads," or "I dare you to ask for a cheeseburger sans cheese," or "I wonder if Curious George would recognize the man in the yellow hat sans hat."

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Preposition: "He says it's not a real house party sans cheap beer."

Other forms: 

None are common in English. But feel free to invent your own hyphenations: "They ordered a left-beef, sans-sauce, sans-cheese pizza."

how to use it:

Pick the weird little word "sans" when you want to sound formal, or jokingly formal.

It's a reasonably common word, but it still calls attention to itself, making you sound a little try-hard or inauthentic, like you're trying to jazz up a magazine article or a clickbaity title.

To use it, talk about something sans some specific feature or element that you might normally expect: "a drink sans alcohol," "a private school sans uniforms," "a dry shampoo sans chalky residue."

See what I mean? It can sound nutty and unnatural. Which could be exactly the tone you're going for, especially if you're bored with more run-of-the-mill terms like "absent," "lacking," "missing," or "minus."

examples:

 JAQUES: "All the world's a stage,
    And all the men and women merely players...
    Last scene of all,
    That ends this strange eventful history,
    Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
    Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing."
   — William Shakespeare, As You Like It, 1623

"'The Pasta Man' presents a spaghetti and meatball (sans meat!) recipe that offers a fresh spin on the traditional."
   — Mateo Zielonka, Salon, 17 June 2023

has this page helped you understand "sans"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "sans" without saying "lacking" or "not having."

try it out:

You probably recognized that example above from Shakespeare. It's pretty famous, and catchy. People love to imitate it.

Here's an example from a 1942 training magazine: "Sans rank, sans aircraft, sans everything to show off about, he'll be just a foolish little figure."

And here's an example from Rolling Stone: "It offers anxiety enough for the Rhodesians themselves.. to face the prospect of starting life afresh in some harsher, colder country, sans servants, sans swimming pool, sans sunshine, sans supremacy."

Give it a try! It's fun! Complain about something by listing three or four things it lacks. Use "sans" every time.

Here, I'll do it, too: "An academic conference online just wouldn't be the same; it'd be speeches and presentations sans warmth, sans chit-chat in the lobbies, sans bowls of fresh pineapple chunks in the morning."

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is Make Your Point Before & After!

I’ll give you a clue, and you give me a verbal mashup including at least one word or phrase we've studied before.

For example, if I give you "It's someone who meets you at the library to join you in a state of deep, serious, often gloomy thoughtfulness," then you give me "brown study buddy." It's a mashup of "brown study" and "study buddy."

Try this one today: When you're out to dinner with Mom and Dad, and they're paying, it's the permission they give you to order anything you want from the menu, provided you order only individual items, not entrées.

To reveal the first two hints, highlight the hidden white text.

Hint 1: The number of words in this Before & After is... four.

Hint 2: The first word in this Before & After is... "à."

Hint 3: Use this term.

To see the answer, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. The opposite of SANS is

A. IN.
B. WITH.
C. BELOW.

2. Knowing the word "sans," you can also figure out the meaning of the French phrase "sans peur": "_____."

A. without fear
B. motionless with fear
C. controlling by means of fear

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. A Answer to the game question: à la carte blanche.

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.