Link Centre Dictionary

faineant

fai·neant

UK/ˈfeɪniənt/ uncommon

adjective

1.

disinclined to work or exertion

  • “faineant kings under whose rule the country languished”
  • “an indolent hanger-on”
  • “too lazy to wash the dishes”
  • “shiftless idle youth”
  • “slothful employees”
  • “the unemployed are not necessarily work-shy”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Old French fay neant, alteration of feignant (“idler”), present participle of feindre, modelled on fait (“does”) + neant (“nothing”).

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.