boulevardier
/ˌbʊləvɑɹˈdɪɹ/
boulevardier means A man who frequents the boulevards; thus, a man about town or bon vivant. It carries an Arena rating of 1649, earned across 34 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, boulevardier ranks #1,702 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #2,725 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,968 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #4,773 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
boulevardier is pronounced /ˌbʊləvɑɹˈdɪɹ/.
Why “boulevardier” is a great word
BOULEVARDIER — [Noun] A man, especially a wealthy and fashionable one, whose social life is conducted along the fashionable boulevards and in the elite establishments of a modern city. Borrowed from French boulevardier, from boulevard (a type of broad city street) + -ier (a suffix denoting one associated with something). First attested in English around 1856. Unlike a flâneur, who is a detached, observant idler, or a bon vivant, whose identity is rooted in luxurious consumption, the boulevardier is an active participant in the theater of high society. He is the gleam of a polished cane on the gaslit pavement, the murmured greeting exchanged beneath a café awning, the confident silhouette against the lit façade of an opera house—a creature for whom the public promenade is a private stage, and being seen is the very substance of his being.
Etymology
Borrowed from French boulevardier, from boulevard + -ier.
noun
- A man who frequents the boulevards; thus, a man about town or bon vivant.e.g.“Sitting alone at his window-seat, he was like an old boulevardier fallen on hard times, waspish, inward, slothful.” — 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published 2010, page 20:
- A cocktail similar to a negroni but made with bourbon instead of gin.
verb
- To strut or show off like a boulevardier.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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