| 释义 |
‖ mondaine, n. (and a.)|mɔ̃dɛn|
[F. mondaine, f. mondain worldly, ad. L. mundānus, f. mundus world: cf. mundane a. (n.)]
A woman belonging to fashionable society. Also mondain |mɔ̃dæ̃|, a man belonging to fashionable society.
1888Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere II. iv. xxvi. 285 He was in a mood to be impatient with a mondaine's languid inquiries into clerical work. 1889E. Dowson Let. 24 Mar. (1967) 55 Here you have the refinement of the mondaine with the independence of the cocotte. 1902[see etiquette 4]. 1906B. von Hutten What became of Pam xii. 192 He was a dandy and a mondain, who..had never done anything noteworthy. 1908Westm. Gaz. 3 Oct. 13/2 The bold attempt of the milliners to coax mondaines to the smaller hat will be watched with interest. 1912Tatler 23 Oct. p. vi (Advt.), Not only have the requirements of the smart mondaine been carefully considered but [etc.]. 1920A. Huxley Let. 4 May (1969) 185 Cocteau is a man of fabulous cleverness, but not serious—He is just a mondain. 1920Q. Rev. July 38 The provocative elegance of the Flavian mondaines. 1924Public Opinion 7 Nov. 458/2 She was in point of fact a most accomplished mondaine. 1970G. Greer Female Eunuch 266 Flatly contemptuous words like kept-woman and call-girl have taken over..from..courtesan, mondaine.
b. adj. Attached to things of the world; worldly.
1889E. Dowson Let. c 11 Jan. (1967) 23, I will free myself from the intolerable corvée of the mondain dinner. 1896C. M. Yonge Release ii. viii. 144 Ah! you are mondaine, you are Protestant, madame. 1927H. Nicholson Some People 88 When I got to bed I realised that by ‘worldly’ he had meant ‘mondaine’. 1929L. Rea Six Mrs. Greenes ii. 58 Lavinia, mondaine, vivid, with a delicate certainty of touch that enabled her [etc.]. 1962Listener 24 May 920/3 His pleasure in the company of children and simple people—as opposed to mondain people. |