playboy

American  

[pley-boi] / ˈpleɪˌbɔɪ /

noun

• playboys
  plural

1. a man who pursues a life of pleasure without responsibility or attachments, especially one who is of comfortable means.

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playboy British  

/ ˈpleɪˌbɔɪ /

noun

1. a man, esp one of private means, who devotes himself to the pleasures of nightclubs, expensive holiday resorts, female company, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• playboys
  plural

Etymology

Origin of playboy

First recorded in 1620–30; play + boy

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

playboy playboys

Mr. Hamm, who finally shows up late in the movie, has an equally good time in the opposite direction, recreating himself as a supercilious playboy lounging around in a bathrobe all day.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

Or maybe he was a playboy, and she was a self-respecting career girl.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

Some Democrats had privately dismissed rumors of his playboy lifestyle as unsubstantiated, according to people familiar with the conversations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

"As far as everybody's concerned, you're a playboy," she told him, accusing him of "parading" his relationships with people including British supermodel Naomi Campbell.

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2026

He had a bevy of female admirers — but also a coterie of critics, who considered him a dandy and a playboy.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

In a different sequence, our ensemble characters take turns reading an online screed caricaturing billionaires as yacht-bound playboys.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2023

Until his social media ban, Tate was operating something called Hustler University, which promised, for $49 a month, to turn his audience into rich playboys, as he presents himself to be.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2022

In this world, playboys are pathetic and pitiable, which reads like a plea for modern audiences to cut maligned men more slack.

From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2021

They also need to shed any perceptions of the shoe as being for pretentious preppies, rakish playboys, or stuffy old men.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2016

He worships the vuvv playboys he works for.

From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson