flâneur
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of flâneur
First recorded in 1850–55; from French: literally, “loafer, idler, man about town,” equivalent to flân-, stem of flâner “to waste time” + -eur ( def. ); cf. flânerie ( def. )
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:
Is the dog a fellow flâneur in the Weimar city, a mirror of its owner, or perhaps his alter ego?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
The French future belonged to the flâneur, the man of sensibility, at home in the crowd.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
The book revives the persona of the downtown flâneur — it’s full of nods to New York landmarks — and reading it feels like wandering around the pre-pandemic metropolis we ache to get back to.
From New York Times ● Apr. 15, 2021
Kazin’s younger self is a latter-day flâneur — observing the familiar neighborhood with the impartiality of an outsider as he walked its streets.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 4, 2021
The first thing that strikes an experienced eye in New York's great thoroughfare is the paucity of loiterers: he sees, at a glance, that the flâneur is an exotic here.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 110, December, 1866 A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics by Various
Like a moth to a nontoxic flame, the store drew Instagram flâneurs in droves — but also plenty of grimaces and eye rolls from locals.
From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2021
Visitors to the exhibition become flâneurs themselves as they meander through 11 multimedia spaces of dreams and fantasies.
From New York Times ● Oct. 2, 2015
The 21st century flâneurs at the center of these novels are dislocated and wayward.
From Salon ● Feb. 4, 2013
It’s not surprising that these 21st-century flâneurs are different creatures from their 19th-century predecessors.
From Salon ● Feb. 4, 2013
The men and women whom I met in the street escape description; the flâneurs of the Unter den Linden are exactly like the flâneurs of the Boulevard des Italiens.
From Seeing Europe with Famous Authors, Volume 5 Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Switzerland, Part 1 by Halsey, Francis W. (Francis Whiting)
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.
