squirearch
/ˈskwʌɪəˌrɑːk
/noun
A member of the squirearchy.He appears as a ‘squirearch’, a man of standing in Megara, but subject to criticism and hostility, eventually betrayed by those he trusted, dispossessed of his estates in a civic upheaval, and forced into exile, where he dreams of revenge....
- Like one of Henry Fielding's squirearchs, Noel planted his library not in some clattering urban center, but in his serene country seat.
- Though there were some mutterings from the squirearchs, Eccles was widely applauded for trying to shift Tory emphasis from ‘inheritors of wealth’ to ‘creators of wealth.’
Derivatives
squirearchical
- Thus the furniture, the framed photographs, the interesting certificates of honours and awards bestowed on the family capture a certain squirearchical ambience which no mere designer would be able to replicate.
- Indeed the middle stretch of the Hudson Valley, particularly the eastern bank, from just south of Albany through Tivoli, Hyde Park, Poughkeepsie, and Garrison to Peekskill, was laid out in a series of grand squirearchical estates unmatched by any concentration in England or France.
- The gullible Albert and his deeply honest best friend Louis Fillou are destined from birth to be on the ‘other side’ in this kind of squirearchical society, coming as they do from peasant families.
Origin
Mid 19th century: back-formation from squirearchy, on the pattern of words such as monarch.
Rhymes
- play (or raise) hob
- play (or sing or practise) scales
- play (or use) the —— card
- play out
- play-party
- playpen
- play-play
- play politics
- play possum
- play-pretty
- playroom
- playscape
- playscheme
- playschool
- play-season
- play second fiddle
- play-seer
- playset
- playshop
- play silly buggers
- playsome
- play someone along
- play someone false
- play someone off
- play someone out