fainéant

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The government of a native state by clerks and chuprassies, with a beautiful fainéant Political Agent for Sundays and Hindu festivals, is, I am told, a thing of the past.

From Twenty-One Days in India; and, the Teapot Series by Aberigh-Mackay, George Robert

Let me tell you, Lady Glencora, that a fainéant government is not the worst government that England can have.

From Phineas Finn The Irish Member by Trollope, Anthony

To be a fainéant ruler was in direct antagonism both to his conscience and his predilections.

From The Prime Minister by Trollope, Anthony

You call me trifler, fainéant, And bid me give my life an aim!—

From Point Lace and Diamonds by Day, Francis

Accomplished antiquarians and “commissioners” assisted him in his labours; but he was no roi fainéant on the editorial sofa which he so complacently describes.

From Dickens English Men of Letters by Ward, Adolphus William, Sir