cavalier

[ kav-uh-leer, kav-uh-leer ]
See synonyms for: cavaliercavaliers on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a horseman, especially a mounted soldier; knight.

  2. one having the spirit or bearing of a knight; a courtly gentleman; gallant.

  1. a man escorting a woman or acting as her partner in dancing.

  2. (initial capital letter) an adherent of Charles I of England in his contest with Parliament.

adjective
  1. haughty, disdainful, or supercilious: an arrogant and cavalier attitude toward others.

  2. offhand or unceremonious: The very dignified officials were confused by his cavalier manner.

  1. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the Cavaliers.

  2. (initial capital letter) of, relating to, or characteristic of the Cavalier poets or their work.

verb (used without object)
  1. to play the cavalier.

  2. to be haughty or domineering.

Origin of cavalier

1
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Middle French: “horseman, knight,” from Old Italian cavaliere, from Old Provençal, from Late Latin caballārius “man on horseback,” equivalent to Latin caball(us) “horse” (cf. capercaillie) + -ārius-ary

word story For cavalier

Cavalier and its Romance cognates, Spanish caballero, Portuguese cavalleiro, Italian cavaliere (source of English cavalry ), Old Northern French cavailler, cavaler, Old French and French chevalier (source of English chevalier ), all derive from Late Latin caballārius “horseman, groom,” from Latin caballus “horse, (inferior) horse for riding, packhorse, nag.” In English in the late 16th century, cavalier meant “horseman, armed horseman, knight,” and also “gentleman at arms, courtly gentleman, gallant.”
By the end of the 16th century, cavalier had also become a term of abuse, meaning “braggart, swaggerer,” as in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 2 (1596–99). This sense persisted till at least the English Civil War (1642–1651); the Puritan Roundheads called King Charles’s bellicose aristocratic supporters Cavaliers. By the mid-18th century, a cavalier also came to mean “an attendant upon or escort for a lady, a lady’s dancing partner.”
The adjective senses of cavalier, “offhand, careless, free and easy” arose in the second half of the 16th century; the negative adjective sense “haughty, disdainful” arose in the mid-18th century; the historical sense in reference to the Stuart Royalists arose in the mid-19th century.

Other words for cavalier

Other words from cavalier

  • cav·a·lier·ism, cav·a·lier·ness, noun
  • cav·a·lier·ly, adverb
  • un·cav·a·lier, adjective
  • un·cav·a·lier·ly, adverb

Words Nearby cavalier

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How to use cavalier in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cavalier (1 of 2)

cavalier

/ (ˌkævəˈlɪə) /


adjective
  1. showing haughty disregard; offhand

noun
  1. a gallant or courtly gentleman, esp one acting as a lady's escort

  2. archaic a horseman, esp one who is armed

Origin of cavalier

1
C16: from Italian cavaliere, from Old Provençal cavalier, from Late Latin caballārius rider, from caballus horse, of obscure origin

Derived forms of cavalier

  • cavalierly, adverb

British Dictionary definitions for Cavalier (2 of 2)

Cavalier

/ (ˌkævəˈlɪə) /


noun
  1. a supporter of Charles I during the English Civil War: Compare Roundhead

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012