accompli

fait accompli

A decision that has already been made or something that has already been accomplished or completed. The decision by the CEO to close 50 of the company's stores came as a fait accompli to the rest of the management team, who were powerless to stop it. Failing this class is not a fait accompli—you have the ability to study and bring up your grade!
See also: accompli, fait
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a ˌfait accomˈpli

(from French) something that has already happened or been done and that you cannot change: We got married secretly and then presented our parents with a fait accompli.
See also: accompli, fait
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

fait accompli, a

A deed or action already completed. The term is French for “accomplished action” and was adopted into English in the early nineteenth century. The French critic Nicolas Boileau, exponent of the classical style, may have been one of the first to popularize the term in French, in his treatise L’Art poétique (1674), expounding the classic unities of drama: “Qu’en un lieu, qu’en un jour, un seul fait accompli tienne jusqu’ à la fin le théâtre rempli” (One place, one time, one single action will keep the audience in the theater to the end).
See also: fait
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • a fait accompli
  • fait accompli
  • fait accompli, a
  • choir
  • preach to the
  • preach to the choir
  • preach to the converted
  • has come and gone
  • have come and gone
  • go the round
References in classic literature
Europe adjusts itself to a fait accompli, and so does an individual character--until the placid adjustment is disturbed by a convulsive retribution.
Adam Bede
"And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a fait accompli?"
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Israeli settlers daily break into al-Aqsa Mosque provocatively under the protection of the occupation forces in an attempt to impose a fait accompli with regard to Judaizing the Mosque and imposing control over it.
Israeli settlers storm al-Aqsa Mosque once again
A, a-t-il declare a l'issue de la priere de l'Aid el-Kebir qu'il a accompli a la Grande mosquee de Dakar.
Le president senegalais appelle ses concitoyens a l'union des cAurs et a la priere
(Alliance News) - Heathrow expansion is "a fait accompli" and will be a "critical part of any new prime minister's agenda", the boss of the airport said.
Heathrow Third Runway Will Be "Critical" For New PM, Says Airport Boss
Dans le communique, le general de corps d'armee Ahmed Gaid Salah a adresse ses felicitations a l'ensemble des equipages des aeronefs militaires ayant accompli avec succes la mission speciale de transport des supporters algeriens au Caire pour soutenir et encourager l'equipe nationale de football, a l'occasion de la finale de la Coupe d'Afrique des Nations 2019, precisant qu'ils ont, a travers cette action, "contribue a apporter la joie et le bonheur dans les coeurs des Algeriens, qui ont exprime avec un sentiment sincere, a l'interieur comme a l'exterieur du pays, une fierte inegalee d'appartenir a une patrie qui s'appelle l'Algerie, en brandissant l'embleme national dans les quatre coins du pays et meme a l'exterieur".
Gaid Salah salue l'unite des Algeriens lors de la Coupe d'Afrique des nations
The data argue against Fed easing, but a July cut is a fait accompli.
U.S. consumer sentiment inched up 0.2 points to 98.4 in the preliminary July reading
"The sudden announcement of a bipartisan agreement on the governor is an attempt to impose a fait accompli, and we reject it altogether.
Turkmen Front: The decision of the two Kurdish parties to choose a governor of Kirkuk is an attempt to impose the fait accompli
DUSHANBE, Sunday, June 16, 2019 (WAFA) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that Turkey rejects 'fait accompli' in Jerusalem, as reported by the official Turkish Anadolu Agency.
Erdogan says Turkey rejects 'fait accompli' in Jerusalem
Summary: TEHRAN (FNA)- Moscow considers the US demands that Turkey give up the purchase of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems as unacceptable and views the deal as a fait accompli, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
Russia Views US Ultimatum to Turkey over Purchase of S-400 Systems as Unacceptable
It is incorrect because it provocatively ignores the fact that with the passage of time what has happened becomes an irreversible fait accompli. A fait accompli in respect of the occupied lands; a fait accompli in respect of the population mix; a fait accompli in terms of the established world order.
The cardinal error committed by the Greek Cypriots
Under the hypnotic spell of Indian propaganda, we naively accept the Indian-held Kashmir's 'assembly' and the preceding illegal and doubtful 'instrument of accession' as fait accompli. No sir, they aren't.
IHK poll delay
There should not be a fait accompli on the ground," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hami Aksoy told a press conference.
Ankara vows to thwart provocation impact on Idlib deal
The prime minister also informed Ambassador Emadi about the Israeli's continuous policy of imposing fait accompli, settlement expansion, demolition of houses and the confiscation of land, especially in the so-called Area C.
Palestinian PM briefs Emadi about Israeli violations