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fainéant

[ fey-nee-uhnt; French fe-ney-ahn ]
/ ˈfeɪ ni ənt; French fɛ neɪˈɑ̃ /
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See synonyms for: fainéant / faineance 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.
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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

Words nearby fainéant

fail-safe, fail-soft, failure, fain, fainaigue, fainéant, fainites, fáinne, faint, faintheart, fainthearted
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to fainéant

idle, inactive, indolent, slothful, sluggard, sluggish, otiose, shiftless, bum, good-for-nothing, layabout, loafer, ne'er-do-well, slacker, wastrel

How to use fainéant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for fainéant

fainéant
/ (ˈfeɪnɪənt, French fɛneɑ̃) /
noun
a lazy person; idler
adjective
indolent

Derived forms of fainéant

faineance or faineancy, noun

Word Origin for 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
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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