1. a class of women considered to be of doubtful social respectability and morality
Usage: dated; from French
2. a distinct group on the fringes of respectable society
Usage: literary

Examples

• The novel depicted the demimonde of 19th-century Paris.
• She moved in the demimonde between high society and the criminal underworld.
• The artist’s subjects were often drawn from the demimonde.
• He wrote extensively about the demimonde of the theater district.
• The demimonde fascinated writers of the Belle Époque.
• Her salon attracted members of the literary demimonde.