gigolo
/ˈ(d)ʒɪɡələʊ
/noun (plural gigolos)
A young man paid or financially supported by a woman, typically an older woman, to be her escort or lover.The character decides to become a gigolo after discovering that it excites him when an older woman offers him money to have sex with her....
- She spent thousands a day on drugs, champagne, fancy clothes and hiring gigolos for sex - sometimes two at a time.
- She understands the blunder a second later, horrified by the image of herself looking either like a hooker, or worse, a sex-deprived housewife looking for a gigolo.
Synonyms
playboy, beau, admirer;
(male) dancing partner, (male) escort, (male) companion
informal fancy man
British informal toy boy
Origin
1920s (in the sense 'dancing partner'): from French, formed as the masculine of gigole 'dance hall woman', from colloquial gigue 'leg'.
The original sense was ‘dancing partner’: it comes from French, formed as the masculine of gigole ‘dance hall woman’, from colloquial gigue ‘leg’.