Word of the Day

: December 17, 2017

lothario

noun loh-THAIR-ee-oh

What It Means

: a man whose chief interest is seducing women

lothario in Context

"He was now quite an elderly Lothario, reduced to the most economical sins; the prominent form of his gaiety being this of lounging at Mr. Gruby's door, embarrassing the servant-maids who came for grocery, and talking scandal with the rare passers-by." — George Eliot, Scenes of Clerical Life, 1858

"He probably even envisioned himself as a prized Lothario, never for a moment identifying with this observation by the great songwriter Kinky Friedman: 'Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail.'" — Joe Fitzgerald, The Boston Herald, 16 Oct. 2017

Did You Know?

Lothario comes from The Fair Penitent (1703), a tragedy by Nicholas Rowe. In the play, Lothario is a notorious seducer, extremely attractive but a haughty and unfeeling scoundrel beneath his charming exterior. He seduces Calista, an unfaithful wife and later the fair penitent of the title. After the play was published, the character of Lothario became a stock figure in English literature. For example, Samuel Richardson modeled the character of Lovelace on Lothario in his 1748 novel Clarissa. As the character became well known, his name became progressively more generic, and lothario (often capitalized) has since been used to describe a foppish, unscrupulous rake.