femme du monden.
/ˌfam də ˈmɒnd/, /ˌfam duː ˈmɒnd/, U.S. /ˌfɛm də ˈmɔnd/ A woman belonging to fashionable society (cf. monde n.); a sophisticated, experienced woman; a woman of the world.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > [noun] > person > female
skit?1571
Messalina1575
brisk1689
dasher1807
femme du monde1849
playgirl1916
1849 Ainsworth's Mag. 15 121 Bonnet, dress, and cloak, all were black; nor did anything in her toilette announce the femme du monde, beyond the peculiar and unpretending elegance of her manner and deportment.
1894 W. James Let. 24 Jan. in R. B. Perry Thought & Char. W. James (1935) II. 188 His wife was a femme du monde, however, and fully made up for his lack of conversation.
1919 C. Mackenzie Sylvia & Michael iii. 71 If she did not know what Eliane was, she might easily have mistaken her for a femme du monde like herself.
1944 W. S. Maugham Razor's Edge i. 36 There's no better education for a young man than to become the lover of a woman of a certain age and..if she's..a femme du monde..it would immediately give him a situation in Paris.
1996 B. Sterling Holy Fire 125 Firm but gentle femmes du monde, who were all the more tolerant of human foibles since they were left with very few of their own.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1849