A boy or man who is overly refined, fancy, or dressed in an excessively fancy way, often considered weak or silly by others.
Named after Little Lord Fauntleroy, the protagonist of Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1886 children's novel about a boy dressed in velvet suits with long curls. The term became slang for pretentious or overly dainty boys.
The novel became so popular that Victorian parents actually dressed their sons in 'Fauntleroy suits' of velvet and lace, creating generations of embarrassed boys—sometimes literature's influence on fashion can be a bit ridiculous.
From 'Little Lord Fauntleroy' (1886); the name became a gendered insult implying unmanliness or effeminacy in boys through early 20th-century mockery, conflating aesthetic sensitivity with weakness.
Avoid using as an insult or character criticism. If referencing the literary figure, note the historical context of how gentleness was coded as emasculation.
["well-dressed","refined","attentive to aesthetics"]
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