fainéant

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

See synonyms for fainéant on Thesaurus.com

adjective

Also fai·ne·ant [fey-nee-uhnt]. /ˈfeɪ ni ənt/. idle; indolent.

noun,plural fai·né·ants

[fey-nee-uhnts; French fe-ney-ahn]. /ˈfeɪ ni ənts; French fɛ neɪˈɑ̃/.

an idler.

Origin of fainéant

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 ”; see feign, faint

Other words from fainéant

fai·ne·ance [fey-nee-uhns], /ˈfeɪ ni əns/, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use fainéant in a sentence

And thus the Duke's ministry came to be called the Faineants.
The Prime Minister | Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for fainéant

fainéant

/ (ˈfeɪnɪənt, French fɛneɑ̃) /

noun

a lazy person; idler

adjective

indolent

Origin of fainéant

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

Derived forms of fainéant

faineance or faineancy, noun

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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