gentleman of fortune

American

noun

an adventurer.

Etymology

Origin of gentleman of fortune

First recorded in 1880–85

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.

Her husband was John Cornelius Vanden Heuvel, a Dutch gentleman of fortune, who had been Governor of Demerara and afterwards settled in New York.

From Project Gutenberg

This talented man was one of the greatest poets that ever appeared among the Welsh, and his poetical works were printed, with other productions, in a volume, under the title of “Diddanwch Teuluaidd.” p. 48Henry Owen, an eminent divine and philologist, was the son of a gentleman of fortune, in Merionethshire, where he was born, at Tanygader, in 1716.

From Project Gutenberg

John Anstis, a gentleman of fortune, was born at St. Neot’s, co.

From Project Gutenberg

The following are specified as some of the contents of the future institution:—"Cottage fireplaces and kitchen utensils for cottagers; a farm-house kitchen with its furnishings; a complete kitchen, with its utensils, for the house of a gentleman of fortune; a laundry, including boilers, washing, ironing, and drying rooms, for a gentleman's house, or for a public hospital; the most improved German, Swedish, and Russian stoves for heating rooms and passages."

From Project Gutenberg

He was a gentleman of fortune, and lived first in Roxbury.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023