Savoyard

American  

[suh-voi-erd, sav-oi-ahrd, sa-vwa-yar] / səˈvɔɪ ərd, ˌsæv ɔɪˈɑrd, sa vwaˈjar /

noun

• Savoyards
  plural

1. a native or inhabitant of Savoy.

2. a person enthusiastic about or connected with Gilbert and Sullivan operas: so called from the Savoy Theater in London, where the operas were first presented.

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adjective

1. of or relating to Savoy, its people, or their dialect.

Savoyard ¹ British  

/ savwajar, səˈvɔɪɑːd /

noun

1. a native of Savoy

2. the dialect of French spoken in Savoy

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adjective

1. of or relating to Savoy, its inhabitants, or their dialect

Savoyard ² British  

/ səˈvɔɪɑːd /

noun

1. a person keenly interested in the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan

2. a person who takes part in these operettas

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Savoyards
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of Savoyard

From French, dating back to 1690–1700; see origin at Savoy, -ard

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Savoyard Savoyards

We’re ticking off the Stations of the Cross, which a Savoyard devout has installed on the rocky slope we’re scampering up, Olivier becoming the first man to ascend a pre-Alp while carrying a golf umbrella.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 1, 2016

From Geneva, it’s a two-hour drive to the picturesque town of Valmorel, full of villas done in the classic Savoyard design.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2015

He acknowledges — how could you not? — that the Savoyard operettas pointedly skewer bel canto conventions, both literary and musical.

From New York Times ● Jun. 26, 2011

That same dandified poverty clings to the faces and tattered garb of Savoyard peasants whose desperation he drew.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 14, 2011

The morning remained sunless; a strong south wind wrapped the Savoyard mountains in mist, and at length a slight rain began to fall.

From A Divided Heart and Other Stories by Paul Heyse

She was also a choreographer for the Washington Savoyards for 10 years and for other local amateur theater groups.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 22, 2022

You could attack the productions for the breakneck pace and for the anarchic, antic style that at times can feel relentless, and that occasionally overwhelms the puckish satirical and pun-laced lyrics that Savoyards revere.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 18, 2016

From that day forward, the sun never set on the Savoyards.

From Time Magazine Archive

For that whisper belongs to the theatrical days of which Savoyards reminisce with wistful head-shakings, of which Mr. Isman, in a similar manner, writes in this book.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the course of another century or so these Savoyards in a succession of Humberts and Amedeos, brave, shrewd, and usually successful men, extended their dominions by war, by marriage, and by bargains.

From A Short History of Italy (476-1900) by Henry Dwight Sedgwick

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