tête-à-tête

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tête-à-tête

/ˌtɛt.əˈtɛt/
/ˌteɪt.əˈteɪt/

Where it comes from

Unadapted borrowing from French tête-à-tête (“head-to-head”).

noun tête-à-têtes · tete-a-tete · tête à tête · tete a tete

A face-to-face meeting, or private conversation between two people, usually in an intimate setting; a head-to-head. From the tête-à-tête with Mr. Thomas Tough, ſhe goes to her deſk again, and begins to write "With what appetite ſhe may," in the forlorn hope of procuring from her bookſeller part of the money ſhe has been compelled to promiſe to the ſaid Thomas's peremptory demands, on behalf of Mr. Humphrey Hotgoo
Similar: head-to-head
A bench or sofa that allows two people to talk face-to-face, especially one that is S-shaped.
Similar: confidante, conversation bench, courting bench, kissing bench, love seat, vis-à-vis
A variety of early flowering, fragrant daffodil.

adverb

not comparable In private, between two people; head-to-head. Swankey of the Body Guard himself, that dangerous youth, and the greatest buck of all the Indian army now on leave, was one day discovered by Major Dobbin tête-à-tête with Amelia, and describing the sport of pig-sticking to her with great humour and eloquence […]

Translations

Every language

noun face-to-face meeting

日本語	密談 mitsudan
हिन्दी	आमना-सामना āmnā-sāmnā
Português	tête-à-tête
Français	tête-à-tête
Deutsch	Tête-à-Tête

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Cite this

MLA

"tête-à-tête." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/t%C3%AAte-%C3%A0-t%C3%AAte. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

tête-à-tête. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/t%C3%AAte-%C3%A0-t%C3%AAte

Chicago

"tête-à-tête." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/t%C3%AAte-%C3%A0-t%C3%AAte.

BibTeX

@misc{te_te_a_te_te_2026,
  title = {tête-à-tête},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/t%C3%AAte-%C3%A0-t%C3%AAte},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}