beau
/bou/
Definition
- Noun:
- A man who is very concerned with his clothing and overall appearance; a dandy; a fop. This meaning emphasizes a man's fashionable, often excessively careful, style of dress.
- A woman's male romantic partner or suitor; a boyfriend. This is an old-fashioned or literary term for a man who is courting a woman or is her lover.
Examples of Usage
Noun (Dandy):
- He was known around town as a fashionable beau, always dressed in the latest styles.
- The portrait showed a 19th-century beau with an elaborate cravat and powdered wig.
Noun (Boyfriend/Suitor):
- She introduced the young officer as her beau.
- In the novel, the heroine had several eager beaux vying for her attention.
Advanced Usage
"Beau monde": (from French) Literally "beautiful world," this phrase refers to the world of high society and fashionable people.
- She was a celebrated figure in the beau monde of Paris.
"Beau ideal": (from French beau idéal) The perfect model or ultimate standard of beauty or excellence.
- For many classicists, the sculptures of ancient Greece represented the beau ideal of human form.
Variants and Related Words
Beaux: The traditional plural form of "beau."
- The ballroom was filled with elegant ladies and their attentive beaux.
Beauish (adj., rare): Characteristic of a beau; dandyish.
- Beauteous (adj., poetic): Beautiful. (Shares the root but has a different meaning).
Synonyms
- For the "dandy" meaning: dandy, fop, fashion plate, clotheshorse, swell.
- For the "boyfriend" meaning: suitor, admirer, sweetheart, paramour, escort (context-dependent).
Related Phrases
- "Beau geste": (from French) A gracious or noble gesture, often one that is more symbolic than practical.
- Sending flowers was a beau geste that she greatly appreciated.
Notes on Usage
- The word "beau" is considered somewhat old-fashioned or literary in modern English, especially when referring to a boyfriend. It often evokes a sense of historical or formal courtship.
- Its use to describe a fashion-conscious man is also dated but remains understood, particularly in historical contexts.
Noun
-
a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance
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a man who is the lover of a girl or young woman
-
if I'd known he was her boyfriend I wouldn't have asked
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