A.Word.A.Day

flaneur

PRONUNCIATION:

MEANING:

noun: An idler or loafer; a man about town.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French flâneur (stroller, idler), from flâner (to stroll). Earliest documented use: 1854.

USAGE:

"In Dessaix's delightful contribution to the genre, he turns himself into a modern-day literary flaneur -- that is, one with a round-the-world air ticket."

A Magnificent Buffoon; Financial Times (London, UK); Jan 28, 2005.



"The dandy, on the other hand, is a flâneur, a jaded, narcissistic observer well-suited to the 7280 cell phone, whose screen becomes a mirror when not in use."

Ed Tenner; Digital Dandies; Technology Review (Cambridge, Massachusetts); Jan 2005.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: