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View synonyms for fainéant

fainéant

[ fey-nee-uhnt; French fe-ney-ahn ]

adjective

  1. Also fai·ne·ant [] idle; indolent.


noun

plural fainéants
  1. an idler.

fainéant

/ ˈfeɪnɪənt; fɛneɑ̃ /

noun

  1. a lazy person; idler
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. indolent
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈfaineance, noun
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Other Word Forms

  • fai·ne·ance [fey, -nee-, uh, ns], noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of fainéant1

First recorded in 1610–20; from French, earlier fait-nient, literally, “he does nothing,” folk etymology of Old French faignant “idler,” noun use of present participle of se faindre “to shirk ”; feign, faint
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Word History and Origins

Origin of fainéant1

C17: from French, modification of earlier fait-nient (he) does nothing, by folk etymology from Old French faignant shirker, from faindre to be lazy
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Here’s me not using faineant in a sentence.

The fainéant gods, who dwell serenely indifferent to human affairs, and about whom men should therefore have no dread; all things, whether dead or living, even the ideas that enter the mind; are alike composed of atoms.

This was the young “Fainéant” king of Neustria, Clothaire III.

The office is hereditary if these qualifications are also inherited; but should the sons or brothers of the chief prove unworthy of his place, the Ainu would assemble in a "village council" and elect another strong, clear-headed, and brave man in place of the roi fainéant thus summarily deposed.

Solmes, the fainéant of Steinkirk, was left dead on the field.

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