Word of the Day

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

boulevardier

\boo-luh-var-DYAY; bul-uh-\ , noun;

A frequenter of city boulevards, especially in Paris.

A sophisticated, worldly, and socially active man; a man who frequents fashionable places; a man-about-town.

Read the full entry|See synonyms|Comment on today's word|Suggest tomorrow's word

Quotes:

Oswald, whose idea of excitement is breakfasting with a penguin, is a boulevardier: Hat cocked precariously on his head, he saunters out into the sunny city.

-- Tom Gliatto, "Tube", People, July 22, 2002

Bratton had been running about town, having his picture taken in trendy restaurants, seeking and getting headlines -- a regular gay boulevardier from the Roaring Twenties.

-- Sydney H. Schanberg, "Cops' D.C. Spree Calls for Outside Watchdog", Newsday, May 30, 1995

The "Night Mayor of New York" was, Mitgang writes, "a hometown boy, part Kilkenny sentimentalist, part Greenwich Village boulevardier."

-- David Walton, "Go Fight City Hall", New York Times, January 9, 2000

Origin:

Boulevardier is from French, from boulevard, from Old French bollevart, "rampart converted to a promenade," from Middle Low German bolwerk, "bulwark."