Meaning & use
woman of leisure
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Meanings
nouncountable
A woman who does not have a paid job and can spend her time as she likes, usually because she is wealthy.
Grammar: Countable: say 'a woman of leisure' or 'two women of leisure' (note the plural 'women').
Patterns
- a woman of leisure
- live like a woman of leisure
After her husband sold the company, she became a woman of leisure and spent her mornings at the tennis club.
He joked that his retirement had turned him into a man of leisure, while his sister was a true woman of leisure.
The novel's heroine is a woman of leisure who has never had to earn her own money.
nouncountablehumorous
A woman who has free time and no fixed duties, often used humorously about someone with a light schedule.
Grammar: Often used with 'a' or 'the'; the humorous tone comes from the contrast between 'leisure' and a busy life.
Patterns
- a lady of leisure
- play the woman of leisure
With the children at school all day, she joked that she had become a woman of leisure.
For one glorious week between jobs, I was a woman of leisure, reading novels in the park.
Word forms
| plural | women of leisure |
|---|
Common combinations
- a woman of leisure
- She looked like a woman of leisure in her silk scarf and sunglasses.
- become a woman of leisure
- After she inherited the estate, she became a woman of leisure.
- live like a woman of leisure
- He works from home and lives like a woman of leisure, with long lunches and afternoon naps.
- a man of leisure
- Her brother is a man of leisure who has never held a full-time job.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lady of leisure
- Very close in meaning but sounds slightly more formal or old-fashioned, and is often used with a touch of irony.
- socialite
- A socialite is rich and goes to many parties and events; a woman of leisure may simply have free time and not be especially social.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: woman of leisure or woman of letters?
woman of leisure vs woman of letters
A woman of letters is a female writer or scholar, not someone with free time. The two phrases look similar but describe very different things.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'woman of leisure' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Woman of leisure' means a woman with free time and no paid job, so the retired professor fits. Option A contradicts the meaning by mentioning a sixty-hour work week; option B uses 'he' with 'woman'; option D wrongly suggests she must be busy.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “woman of leisure”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.