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Synonyms

philanderer

American  
[fi-lan-der-er] / fɪˈlæn dər ər /

noun

  1. a person, usually a man, who has many casual sexual encounters or affairs, especially when married or in a committed relationship.

    After three of his infidelities, she’d finally had enough of a husband who by all accounts had become a serial philanderer.


Etymology

Origin of philanderer

philander ( def. ) + -er 1 ( def. )

Explanation

A philanderer is a guy who likes women. A lot. So much that he's got a beautiful wife — and a date with a different girl every weekend. The phil in philanderer means "love" and a philanderer's love never seems to stop. "So many ladies, so little time..." — That may just be the motto of the quintessential philanderer, those delightful serial womanizers who specialize in brief affairs of the carnal kind. A philandering husband doesn't just have a wandering eye. He also has wandering hands, and probably a long line of jilted lovers.

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Vocabulary lists containing philanderer

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.

The admin of a smaller left-wing Facebook page, The Ragged Trousered Philanderer, says that the change had a big impact.

From BBC • Nov. 26, 2019

"Philanderer" Alfred Rouse, who may not have known the victim's identity, was having money problems and wanted to fake his own death.

From BBC • Oct. 18, 2014

"Philanderer" Rouse, who may not have known the victim's identity, was having money problems and wanted to fake his own death.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2014

This year's festival includes a pair of lively, chatty Shaw productions, You Never Can Tell and The Philanderer.

From Time Magazine Archive

There is no twopenny modernism in it, as in The Philanderer.

From George Bernard Shaw by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)