farouche
Americanadjective
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sullen or shy
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socially inept
Etymology
Origin of farouche
First recorded in 1760–70; from French, from Old French faro(u)che, forasche; further origin uncertain; perhaps from Late Latin forāsticus “belonging outside or out of doors” (i.e., not fit to be inside), a derivative of the adverb and preposition forās (also forīs ) “(to the) outside, abroad”; see origin at door ( def. ); see savage ( def. ) for similar semantic development
Explanation
If someone describes you as farouche, they either mean you're wild and disorderly, or that you're awkward and shy. Either way, it's not a compliment! Farouche is from the Late Latin forasticus, "living outside," and its root, foras, "outdoors." Originally, it described anyone so uncomfortable socializing with other people that they didn't seem to be used to civilized human company. In this way, a farouche person was both "wild" and "shy." In fact, you can describe both the kid running wildly through a party knocking things over and her sister, sitting sullenly in the corner refusing to talk, as farouche.
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.
Clinch’s Marley is one of the great farouche characters, at once frightening and dangerously attractive.
From New York Times • Oct. 8, 2019
Today Mr. Jacobson lives in a Ray Kappe-designed home in Manhattan Beach, Calif., with his wife, Kristopher Dukes, who is an interior designer, and their farouche leather-clad pit bull, Luscious.
From New York Times • Sep. 9, 2015
I love the way we’re left to imagine the silliness of the hat, and as a writer I couldn’t wait to use the word farouche.
From Slate • Nov. 6, 2014
But nowadays the truly farouche is but a curl of wood smoke in a hacked about forest clearing: soon it will be dispersed forever by the gritty wind of civilisation.
From The Guardian • Jan. 31, 2013
Dear Princess," he said, "you did not tell me that she was so very farouche, so very shy indeed.
From Jeanne of the Marshes by Oppenheim, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips)
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.
