bellet(r ə ), -le.tr(ə) noun plural but singular in construction
Etymology: French belles-lettres, literally, beautiful letters
: literature that is an end in itself (as most poetry, fiction, and drama) and not practical or purely informative
a magazine more concerned with public affairs than belles lettres
specifically : light entertaining literature often of a facile or sophisticated nature
the belles lettres fragrance that clings to the humanities repelled the social scientists — A.L.Guérard