turveydrop means an idle and conceited person who lives off the work of another. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.
Why this word is great
TURVEYDROP — [Noun] An idler of exquisite self-regard who subsists parasitically upon the toil of another while affecting an air of genteel dignity. The etymology is a direct eponym, from the surname of Mr. Turveydrop, a character noted for his idleness and conceit who lives off his son's industry, in Charles Dickens' novel 'Bleak House' (1852-1853). Unlike a 'parasite' — a blunt, biological label — or a 'dandy' — a devotee of the mirror, often self-funded — a Turveydrop is a specific moral artifact: idleness polished to a high principle, sustained by another's silent exhaustion. He is the faint scent of pomade in a perfectly brushed coat, the resonant clearing of a throat that has never been strained by shouting for its own supper, the serene, unchallenged gaze of a man who has arranged the world as his audience while a single figure oils the machinery of his dignity — a quiet, elegant tyranny of borrowed merit.
noun
- An idle and conceited person who lives off the work of another.