fine ˈgentleman
a. A gentleman of polished manners and refined tastes. b. A gentleman of fashion, one who is distinguished for elegance and correct style in dress and habits of life; now usually in sarcastic use. Also attrib. or as adj.
| 1583 C. Hollyband Campo di Fior 207 You fine gentelman, do you leane on the table? 1628 Earle Microcosm. xxxvi, A Blunt Man..is a great enemy to the fine Gentleman. 1728 Gay Beggar's Opera i. iv. 4 How many fine Gentlemen have we in Newgate every Year? 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. i. §11 Men of pleasure, men of fashion, and fine gentlemen. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 368 The fine gentleman's ornaments, his embroidered coat, his fringed gloves. 1879 Froude Cæsar ix. 90 Fine gentlemen could once more lounge in their clubs. 1928 Smart Set Sept. 49/1 Your fine-gentleman airs sit ridiculously on you. |
Hence fine-ˈgentlemanish a., foppish; fine-ˈgentlemanism, fine-ˈgentlemanship.
| 1865 Spectator 29 Apr. 471/1 Some highly affected and fine-gentlemanish verbosity which we have not met before. 1866 Athenæum 24 Nov. 676/2 The evanescent air of fine gentlemanism. 1874 L. Carr Judith Gwynne xvii, That boredom is one of the necessary traits of fine gentlemanism. 1833 Contemp. Rev. June 899 The spirit of fine gentlemanship. |