Meaning & use
ladies of leisure
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Meaning
phrasepluralold-fashionedhumorousdisapproving
Women who do not have paid work and spend their time on leisure activities.
Grammar: Always plural; the singular would be 'a lady of leisure'. It is used after 'be' or as a noun phrase.
Patterns
- be a lady of leisure
- live like a lady of leisure
After she retired, she joked that she had become a lady of leisure.
The magazine article described the wealthy ladies of leisure who spent their days shopping and attending parties.
He teased his sister, calling her a lady of leisure because she slept until noon every day.
Word forms
| singular | lady of leisure |
|---|
Common combinations
- a lady of leisure
- She became a lady of leisure after her children grew up and left home.
- live like a lady of leisure
- He spent the summer living like a lady of leisure, reading and swimming all day.
- ladies of leisure
- The novel portrays a group of ladies of leisure in 19th-century Paris.
Synonyms and how they differ
- socialite
- A socialite is a person who attends many fashionable social events; 'lady of leisure' emphasizes not working and having free time, not necessarily being famous.
- housewife
- A housewife manages a home and may work hard there; 'lady of leisure' suggests a life of ease and enjoyment, often with a critical tone.
Opposites
Word family
Practice
After winning the lottery, she quit her job and became a ______.
Choose one answer.
The correct singular form is 'lady of leisure' because the phrase is used for one person. 'Ladies of leisure' is plural and would not fit 'a'. 'Lady of leisures' is wrong because 'leisure' is uncountable here. 'Leisure lady' is not the standard phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ladies of leisure”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.