dehr´-nyay CREE´
(literal French, ‘last cry’)
The dernier cri is the newest fashion,
whether in the field of fashion itself or in another discipline.
For example, “gauchos” for women were the dernier cri in
women’s fashion in the early 1970s, but the stark International
Style was the dernier cri in architecture during the same period.
It’s acceptable to say the dernier cri, but it’s more snobby
to use the French article, le (pronounced like look, without the
k), as in le dernier cri.