Dundreary en · NOUN
Etymology
From the name of Lord Dundreary, a character in Tom Taylor's play Our American Cousin (1858).
Meanings
-
(attributive) Any type of fashion, hairstyles etc. associated with the foppish Lord Dundreary in Taylor's Our American Cousin.
The shop windows were filled with Dundreary scarves, and Brother Sam scarves, and there were Dundreary collars and Dundreary shirts, and Dundrearyisms were on every lip.
1917, George Robert Sims, My Life:‘I shall, if I may claim the second dance,’ spoke up a young man with Dundreary whiskers.
1986, Sheelagh Kelly, For My Brother's Sins:
- (obsolete) A person reminiscent of Lord Dundreary; a fop, a dandy.
-
(in-plural) Long, bushy sideburns.
All at once, the Emperor began to whistle. He really did purse his lips, the wings of his dundrearies moved a little closer together, and the Emperor whistled a tune, a familiar, if somewhat distorted tune.
2002, Josepth Roth, translated by Michael Hofmann, The Radetsky March, Folio Society, published 2015, page 221:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dundrearys | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| dundreary | alternative | lexicographic | |
| Dundrearies | Number=Plur | lexicographic |