ar·ri·ère-pen·sée

(ăr′ē-âr′päN-sā′)

n. A mental reservation, as about the validity of something.

[French : arrière , in back (from Old French arere ; see arrears) + pensée , thought (from penser , to think; see pensive).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.