foppery
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was first sighted in London around 1818, in the form of George “Beau” Brummell, the ex-officer who refined men’s tailoring from furbelowed foppery to clean understatement, then accessorized this elegant simplicity with military-style mustaches, cravats, high collars and tight-waisted jackets.
The people grow less steady, spirited, and virtuous, the seekers more numerous and more corrupt, and every day increases the circles of their dependents and expectants, until virtue, integrity, public spirit, simplicity, and frugality become the objects of ridicule and scorn, and vanity, luxury, foppery ... and downright venality swallow up the whole society.
From Salon
In “King Lear,” the illegitimate son, Edmund, says that blaming bad behavior on planetary influences is “foppery.”
From The New Yorker
All this expensive fashion foppery came at the expense of the poor.
From New York Times
If America chooses to ignore this due to naiveté, strategic foppery or bean counting, we will be subjects to those powers that are more fastidious and realistic in their approach.
From US News
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
