Learn English – How does one use the adjectival noun “l’enfant terrible”

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I have seen this phrase bandied about from time to time, usually in more "academic" works; my problem is that I remember it rarely being applied to children, as a direct translation might imply ("terrible infant"?) I think I usually just skipped over the meaning when I read it, so I don't know how to use it. What are connotative elements of this noun that I'm missing?

NOTE: This is an English Language question; I'm not asking about the French, and really have no idea how they use the word — which would be an inappropriate question for this site. But this phrase does find usage, and I believe has its own distinctive meaning, in English corpora. E.g.:

Google N-gram of "L'enfant terrible"

As always, example sentences would be appreciated.

Best Answer

Edited to add this prequel — the most common use of the phrase does not include the French article. See the statistics from Google ngram, for example:

l'enfant terrible vs. enfant terrible

First, the New Oxford American Dictionary definition:

enfant terrible • noun (plural: enfants terribles)
a person whose unconventional or controversial behavior or ideas shock, embarrass, or annoy others.

From the Corpus of Contemporary American English, it has quite a few hits. These include works of fiction, magazines, and some academic writings; I don't believe it is restricted to the academic style. Examples include:

  • This neglect comes from the " destructive cartoon " that greeted Ellis in the early years: his image as a frivolous enfant terrible whose clipped prose was fit only for the MTV generation
  • His unflattering reputation is a hangover from the Young Tom Doak era when he was architecture's enfant terrible, better known for his Golf Magazine writings on the craft than for his practice of it.
  • Krenek (1900-1991) was an enfant terrible among composers, but a series of artistic setbacks prompted him to reconsider his career. In 1925, he began work on…
  • Eugeni Berzin, 25, the Russian enfant terrible who won the' 94 Giro and is scheduled to make his debut in the Tour
  • It also reveals that, at 71, this seminal artist still is the enfant terrible he was when he began to rattle art's cages half a century ago.
  • Make no mistake, the high points of this 96-year-old enfant terrible are remarkable.

To sum it up, I would say that most uses fall under two categories: (ⅰ) young professionals or artists who are seen as behaving unconventionally or in a shocking manner; (ⅱ) in an ironic fashion, for rather older people who behave in a way that is more expected of the young.

I found only one hit for the plural form which does not refer to Cocteau’s movie:

Yet he writes with a riotous, slangy precision reminiscent of a line of British enfants terribles, beginning with Evelyn Waugh in the 1920s-30s and continuing in such contemporary figures as Martin Amis and Will Self.

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