noun
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a lover, sweetheart, or escort of a girl or woman
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a man who is greatly concerned with his clothes and appearance; dandy
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of beau
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from French, from Latin bellus “beautiful”
Explanation
A beau is an old-fashioned term for "boyfriend." When your great-grandmother was young, she probably had a beau. Beau means "handsome" in French. Pronounce it the same way the French do, with a long o: "boh." The word recalls more innocent times, when gentleman courted their ladies and skirts barely rose above ankle level. You'll hardly ever hear beau used today, unless you're watching a movie, play or television drama set in the past.
Vocabulary lists containing beau
Scrabble: Four-Letter Words with 3 Vowels
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The Glass Menagerie
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The Haunting of Hill House
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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:
Separately, UK actor Hannah Waddingham is depicted next to her "NHS surgeon beau", who the paper says has got a "Hollywood makeover".
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
When she begins dating the owner of a local pet shop, Iona immediately falls in step with her yuppie new beau.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026
When I ask for his American political beau ideal, he says Alexander Hamilton.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
Grant, also Reeves’ longtime friend and collaborator, said she shared the tender photo of her and her beau as a way to thank fans for their best wedding wishes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2025
Miss Quentin and her beau in the swing yonder.
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
This is a huge limitation, as Flock has been used by officers to track not just exes but the new beaus with whom they have moved on.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
As fate would have it, all that time spent researching how bats find their beaus may have led to another pairing.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 14, 2024
Shortly afterward, the two were out and about on a double date with their beaus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2023
How many gatherings will it take before these reluctant beaus admit to their affection?
From New York Times ● Oct. 28, 2020
Perhaps after November after I prove up, I can think about beaus.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
The entire family showed up, including Kylie Jenner in a white ballgown with a matching hat and big sister Kourtney Kardashian in deconstructed Thom Browne to go with beaux Travis Barker’s Thom Browne suit.
From Washington Times ● May 3, 2022
After climbing a dusty marble staircase, visitors are ushered into a parlor dimly lit by a beaux arts chandelier where workers tramp in and out carrying glasses of steaming tea.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2019
The book, as it stands, feels ominously loveless, more hospitable to dolts than to eligible beaux, yet at least seven writers have sought to flesh it out and, in so doing, to warm it up.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 5, 2017
The art deco, beaux arts and neoclassical style includes limestone panels, enhanced with floral and fluted designs.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2017
Her beaux turned to me for consolation, and I gave them the same advice I have for you: Think no more of the minks, because she has already forgotten you.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
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.
