Meaning & use
a woman of leisure
Last updated
Meaning
phrasecountable
A woman who does not have a paid job and can spend her time as she likes.
Grammar: Countable: the plural is 'women of leisure'; use 'a' for one.
Patterns
- a woman of leisure
- live as a woman of leisure
- a life of leisure
After her husband's business succeeded, she became a woman of leisure and took up painting.
In the novel, the heroine is a woman of leisure who has never had to work for money.
He joked that retirement had turned his mother into a woman of leisure.
Word forms
| plural | women of leisure |
|---|
Common combinations
- a life of leisure
- He dreamed of a life of leisure on a warm island.
- a gentleman of leisure
- The character is a gentleman of leisure who spends his days at the club.
- live as a woman of leisure
- She lived as a woman of leisure for a few years before returning to work.
- at leisure
- Please read the report at your leisure.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lady of leisure
- This is a close variant, but it sounds even more old-fashioned and upper-class.
- retired woman
- This simply states that she has stopped working; it does not suggest wealth or choice.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: a woman of leisure or at leisure?
a woman of leisure vs at leisure
'At leisure' means 'with no rush' or 'when you are free', not 'without a job'.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
A woman of leisure has no paid job and enjoys free time, so only the first sentence matches the meaning. The others contradict it by mentioning work or a lack of free time.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a woman of leisure”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.