man about town

American  

noun

1. a socially active, sophisticated man who frequents fashionable nightclubs, theaters, restaurants, etc.; playboy; boulevardier.

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man about town British  

noun

1. a fashionable sophisticate, esp one in a big city

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man about town Idioms  

1. A man who frequently attends fashionable social functions, as in Fred is quite the man about town these days. This expression, first recorded in 1734, uses town in the sense of “a sophisticated place” as opposed to rural settings.

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Etymology

Origin of man about town

First recorded in 1775–85

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

man about town

He rose from humble pastoral beginnings to become a man about town in an industry where Black people weren’t afforded such prominent positions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2023

Gwendolen also comes recommended by one of Nellie’s children, oldest son Niven, a James Bond-ish man about town.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 5, 2022

He's not exactly a man about town, so there's not much known about his food and drink choices.

From Salon ● Nov. 19, 2021

She fills in for the board chairman of a major corporation, and after he dies, carries around his ashes — he insists on continuing to be a man about town.

From New York Times ● Feb. 25, 2020

He could “mind the time” when Gore House was occupied by the Countess of Blessington, and when Louis Napoleon, then a young man about town, was a frequent visitor to that somewhat Bohemian establishment.

From The Bath Road History, Fashion, & Frivolity on an Old Highway by Charles G. (Charles George) Harper

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