remittance man

American  

noun

1. a person who is supported abroad chiefly by remittances from home.

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remittance man British  

noun

1. a man living abroad on money sent from home, esp in the days of the British Empire

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Etymology

Origin of remittance man

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

The leading character, Ben Eckhardt, might be described as a Foundation remittance man who lives meagerly but independently in Paris as a perennial student.

From Time Magazine Archive

"We are all fastened to the Arctic by the strongest ties," said a bewhiskered remittance man.

From Time Magazine Archive

One of the ship's company, all of whom signed on as crew when harbor officials declared the Carma unseaworthy, was Lord Edward Eugene Fernando Montagu, self-styled "remittance man," second son of the Duke of Manchester.

From Time Magazine Archive

He combines the characteristics of a disillusioned moralist with the casualness of an old- fashioned remittance man.

From Time Magazine Archive

Pennington's particular kind of flippancy was merely a result of his having been, in those far days before he was a remittance man, an Oxford graduate.

From I've Married Marjorie by Widdemer, Margaret