Lady Bountiful
noun
a wealthy lady in George Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem, noted for her kindness and generosity.
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Lady Bountiful
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lady bountiful
lady bountifulnounan ostentatiously charitable woman
Lady Bountiful
Americannoun
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Lady Bountifuls,
plural
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Ladies Bountiful
plural
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a wealthy lady in George Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem, noted for her kindness and generosity.
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(sometimes lowercase) a woman of noteworthy generosity or charity.
lady bountiful
British
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lady bountiful
after a character in George Farquhar's play The Beaux' Stratagem (1707)
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.
See Examples For:
But count on it: The District’s days of playing Lady Bountiful, ostentatiously spending other people’s money on benevolent causes, are numbered.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 15, 2021
That she apparently contains multitudes is an especially useful trait in joining the joyful Lady Bountiful of the opening scenes with the mad misanthrope of the later ones.
From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2020
In 14 lines, she managed to cast America—in reality a raucous young nation built by the brains and brawn of newcomers—as a sort of Lady Bountiful, selflessly extending asylum to the poorest and most wretched.
From Economist ● Nov. 7, 2013
Bette Davis, a peppery, small-town librarian, moves like Lady Bountiful among the worshipful peasants in her reading room, opening their purblind eyes to the treasure trove on the shelves around them.
From Time Magazine Archive
A sourer Lady Bountiful never set forth upon an errand of mercy.
From Further Experiences of an Irish R.M. by Martin Ross
In The Fly a man kills a fly; in A Cup of Tea, Rosemary Fell, young, wealthy, plays lady bountiful to a starving girl and takes her home for tea.
From Time Magazine Archive
Maidens may not need much protection from pestilence these days, but the Y.W. is still the lady bountiful helping young girls in need.
From Time Magazine Archive
In Decatur, 111., a lady bountiful gave a seedy-looking stranger $1 and a cheery injunction: "Keep your spirits high."
From Time Magazine Archive
Tessibel had been able to ameliorate the conditions of her squatter neighbors and was regarded by the inhabitants of that end of the Silent City, as their lady bountiful.
From The Secret of the Storm Country by Lucius W. Hitchcock
So long as China was weak, and consequently unable to resent the patronage of her friend, so long was Russia able to play "my lady bountiful" with a good grace and perfect success.
From The Life of Yakoob Beg Athalik Ghazi, and Badaulet; Ameer of Kashgar by Demetrius Charles Boulger
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