roué
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of roué
1790–1800; < French, noun use of past participle of rouer to break on the wheel (derivative of roue wheel ≪ Latin rota ); name first applied to the profligate companions of the Duc d'Orléans (c1720)
Explanation
You can describe a smooth-talking, no-good man as a roue. You could also call him a lady's man, a rake, or a Lothario. This one deserves a full etymology: it's French, a participle of rouer, "to break on the wheel," and it's also the name first applied to the profligate companions of the Duc d'Orléans. So in other words, a roue is a really bad dude. Roue is not common in conversation but that didn't stop Oscar Hammerstein from lyricizing it in "The Sound of Music:" "Eager young lads and roues and cads / Will offer you food and wine."
Vocabulary lists containing roue
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.
Marseille, France, for its beautiful beaches and the Grande Roue de Marseille.
From New York Times • Jul. 7, 2021
His name has even been spelled out on the tiles of the hit game show La Roue de la Fortune.
From Time Magazine Archive
Dr. Roue pointed to a man whose body was swathed in white gauze bandages.
From Time Magazine Archive
Said Miss La Roue, denounced by the President, and straightway discharged from her job: "Something came over me."
From Time Magazine Archive
There was, indeed, at that time a French captain named La Roue, who played high stakes, up to six thousand crowns, which was then deemed exorbitant.
From The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims Volume I (of II) by Steinmetz, Andrew
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
