cavalier
noun
a horseman, especially a mounted soldier; knight.
cavalier
American
[kav-uh-leer, kav-uh-leer]
/ ˌkæv əˈlɪər, ˈkæv əˌlɪər /
noun
-
cavaliers
plural
-
a horseman, especially a mounted soldier; knight.
-
one having the spirit or bearing of a knight; a courtly gentleman; gallant.
-
a man escorting a woman or acting as her partner in dancing.
-
(initial capital letter) an adherent of Charles I of England in his contest with Parliament.
adjective
-
haughty, disdainful, or supercilious.
an arrogant and cavalier attitude toward others.
- Synonyms:
- condescending, thoughtless, uncaring, offhand, indifferent
-
offhand or unceremonious.
The very dignified officials were confused by his cavalier manner.
-
(initial capital letter) of or relating to the Cavaliers.
-
(initial capital letter) of, relating to, or characteristic of the Cavalier poets or their work.
verb (used without object)
-
to play the cavalier.
-
to be haughty or domineering.
cavalier
1
British
/ ˌkævəˈlɪə /
adjective
noun
-
a gallant or courtly gentleman, esp one acting as a lady's escort
-
archaic a horseman, esp one who is armed
Cavalier
2
British
/ ˌkævəˈlɪə /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of cavalier
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
Explanation
Someone who is cavalier has a dismissive attitude and regards other people as inferior. If you think you know more than your teacher and never bother doing homework, your parents might complain that you are cavalier about your studies. The word cavalier dates from mid-16th-century French, from the Latin caballus, meaning “horse.” If you have a cavalier attitude, you look down on other people — as if you are sitting on a very tall horse and other people are sitting down there on the ground.
Vocabulary lists containing cavalier
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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:
She isn't cavalier enough to jettison everything, though: Both 7 Rings and her Lady Gaga duet Rain On Me raise the roof.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Sarandos has been openly cavalier about his belief that the theatrical release is “outdated,” going so far as to claim that Netflix saved Hollywood.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
Much of the world still thinks of Latin American organized crime in terms of cut-throat cocaine cartels and cavalier capos like Pablo Escobar.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
The people from the call center didn’t like my team’s cavalier attitude or our shorthand communication style.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
If there were agents out there looking for her, she didn’t spot them, but she wouldn’t be so cavalier as to think she was out of harm’s way.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
My daughter is a Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Clover, and for the past couple of months, she’s had clipped to her collar an A.I. communication device known as the PetPhone.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026
The situations now and in 2022 are "very different", Oddo BHF economist Bruno Cavalier said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026
Over 30 million people tuned in to watch Blackadder - the Cavalier Years, and the Young Ones on University Challenge.
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2026
The future looks bright for Larchmont Charter freshman Avery Cavalier, who won the Division V girls’ race in 20:45.50 despite being new to the sport.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
Travis parked his red Ford pickup behind Dill’s mom’s Chevy Cavalier.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
She said her cavaliers “saved our life” after she and her husband lost two sons, 17-year-old Matthew in a 2001 car crash and 36-year-old Scott, who had multiple disabilities, in 2010.
From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2023
He wished that his knights for the battle would thirst, But his “brave” cavaliers were, quite simply, The Worst.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 21, 2022
The divas and cavaliers of this all-male troupe are — as they present themselves to us in performance — fabulously stupid, artificial, hammy, clichéd, superficial, dated, monstrous.
From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2016
For instance, in the Waltz of the Flowers, the four cavaliers, suited up hilariously as tuxedoed bumblebees, toss the ballerinas in quick succession, avoiding airborne collisions by seconds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2015
The only ones who even irritated him were the cavaliers, the high-bred, feathery, courtly ones who spoke like Englishmen and treated a man like dirt.
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
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.
