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Glite Dictionary
Little Lord Fauntleroy

Little Lord Fauntleroy

1 9.7
A boy who is too polite and too neatly dressed
  • noun
  • /ˈlɪtəl lɔrd ˈfɔntlərɔɪ/
  • Offensive
translation icon : niño remilgado
  • Many children at the party were dressed in their finest clothes, resembling Little Lord Fauntleroy with bow ties and knee socks.

Examples

  • The child's polite manners and dapper outfit earned him the nickname Little Lord Fauntleroy among his friends.

  • He wears a Little Lord Fauntleroy velvet suit and lace collar, and he looks very sulky.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Advice literature directed at middle-class mothers also recognized the connection between the figures of the sissy and Little Lord Fauntleroy in terms of their shared appearance.

    Academic text (1996)

  • Like his clothes, he is emphatically "made-in-America," rejecting the characteristics of "the Little Lord Fauntleroys you read about in storybooks."

    Academic text (1996)

  • Besides inheriting great wealth, Cedric Errol in Burnett's Little Lord Fauntleroy is nauseatingly blameless.

    Academic text (2001)

  • His elegant velvet suit and polished shoes made him look like a modern-day Little Lord Fauntleroy.

Synonyms

goody
vsLittle Lord Fauntleroy
  • Offensive
47 7.9

A person, often a child, who behaves too well and annoys others

stresses excessive politeness and dressiness rather than moral virtue
Fauntleroy
vsLittle Lord Fauntleroy
  • Archaic
3 9.9

A boy who dresses and acts too neatly and politely

has identical meaning but uses the longer, more formal full name
gallant
vsLittle Lord Fauntleroy
  • Archaic
1 8.1

A man who cares greatly about his clothes and appearance

focuses more on excessive politeness and prissy refinement than just appearance

How Affected

Little Lord Fauntleroy
  • Offensive
1 9.7
dandy
  • Archaic
22 8.2

Surface Forms

Little Lord Fauntleroy singular

Morphology

Little + Lord + Fauntleroy

This is a literary eponym — the name of a fictional character whose name has become a label for an overly prim, well-dressed boy; understanding it requires cultural or literary knowledge rather than simple composition. A B1 learner who knows 'little' and 'lord' would likely infer only 'a small noble boy' and would not derive the idiomatic sense 'affected/prissy' from the constituents or the surname 'Fauntleroy'.

Etymology

Little Lord Fauntleroy comes from a popular children's book about a very well-dressed, polite boy who becomes a young lord. Because the story shows a boy in fancy clothes and perfect manners, people use the name to call a boy who is 'overly polite' or 'too dressed up'.