gentleman-farmer
Americannoun
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a man whose wealth or income from other sources permits him to farm for pleasure rather than for basic income.
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a man whose income from his farm has freed him from the necessity of physical labor.
noun
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a person who engages in farming but does not depend on it for his living
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a person who owns farmland but does not farm it personally
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of gentleman-farmer
First recorded in 1740–50
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:
The most talked about young Tory, gentleman-farmer David Eccles, 47, after waiting nervously for a week while 32 other jobs were filled, was made Minister of Works.
From Time Magazine Archive
One-time Governor McCray, now out of the penitentiary, wishing to re-establish a reputation as a gentleman-farmer and honest man, has announced his willingness to tell everything.
From Time Magazine Archive
During his time in office, Arbenz emerged as the owner of a $3,000,000 cotton plantation; his Interior Minister turned into a gentleman-farmer with two coffee fincas; another pal acquired two mansions.
From Time Magazine Archive
Firmly letting it be known that President Roosevelt had not changed his mind about how much new revenue he wanted, the baldish, lanky gentleman-farmer urged revival of processing taxes to supply the $380,000,000 House deficiency.
From Time Magazine Archive
Condensed, the story runs that long ago there lived, a few miles from Lland——l, an old gentleman-farmer, who was well known and liked as a true sportsman throughout the county.
From Stranger Than Fiction Being Tales from the Byways of Ghosts and Folk-lore by Lewes, Mary L.
When they come into some money, they move to Normandy and become gentlemen-farmers, foreseeing "mountains of fruit, torrents of flowers, avalanches of vegetables."
From Time Magazine Archive
There were also gentlemen-farmers, neatly, trimly, and fashionably dressed, in handsome surtouts, and trousers strapped under their boots.
From Passages from the American Notebooks, Volume 2. by Hawthorne, Nathaniel
We want them to be practical farmers, book-farmers, and gentlemen-farmers in one.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 81, July, 1864 by Various
"But there be four gentlemen-farmers that have come a great distance, and all the first floor is engaged; you will be more out of the noise here."
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 15, August, 1851 by Various
There were also gentlemen-farmers, neatly, trimly, and fashionably dressed, in handsome surtouts and trousers, strapped under their boots.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 103, May, 1866 by Various
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.
