persona grata
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
An acceptable person; one liked. The Count [Miinster] is not a persona grata at court, as the royal family did not relish the course he took in Hanoverian affairs in 1866.— Truth, Oct.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “persona grata” mean?
An acceptable person; one liked. The Count [Miinster] is not a persona grata at court, as the royal family did not relish the course he took in Hanoverian affairs in 1866.— Truth, Oct.
Is “persona grata” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.