1 fopperies | Definition of fopperies
Logo
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

foppery

noun
fop·​pery | \ ˈfä-p(É™-)rÄ“ How to pronounce foppery (audio) \
plural fopperies

Definition of foppery

1 : foolish character or action : folly
2 : the behavior or dress of a fop
Synonyms Did You Know? Example Sentences Learn More about foppery

Keep scrolling for more

Did You Know?

The word fop once referred to a foolish or silly person, a meaning that is now obsolete. The current sense of "fop" - a man who is extremely devoted to or vain about his appearance or dress - still holds a rather quaint charm. "Fop," which derives from Middle English, is related loosely to a Middle High German word meaning "to deceive" and dates from the 15th century. The noun "foppery" arrived on the scene in English about a century later. Its "folly" sense can be found in Shakespeare’s King Lear, where Edmund speaks of "the excellent foppery of the world, that, when we are sick in fortune, often the surfeit of our own behaviour, we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars…."

Examples of foppery in a Sentence

regards the platform shoe as one of the unfortunate fopperies of the 1970s that should remain buried in fashion's scrap heap

First Known Use of foppery

1546, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Keep scrolling for more

More from Merriam-Webster on foppery

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for foppery

WORD OF THE DAY

See Definitions and Examples

Get Word of the Day daily email!