mot juste

mot juste \moh-ZHOOST\, noun:

a word or phrase that exacts fits the case

The poet's concern for the mot juste nearly always makes his prose a thing of interest and beauty.
-- Robert Peel, Lyrical Impressions, Christian Science Monitor, September 19, 1930

"My west window," says the ancient Canon D'Ascoyne, showing a visitor around his ancient church, "has all of the..." he searches for the mot juste, "exuberance of Chaucer, without any of the... concomitant crudities."
-- Vincent Canby, Sir Alec: Amid the Laurels, Very Hardy, New York Times, April 25, 1983

With his high forehead, beard and meticulous concentration on the mot juste, Mr. MacNicol could almost pass for the great minor poet that Mark Van Doren deemed Richard to be.
-- Frank Rich, 'Richard II' in the Park, New York Times, July 9, 1983

from French mot "word" and juste "right"