Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

faineant

/ˈfeɪniənt/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: faineant
IPA: /ˈfeɪniənt/

11

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

1

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An irresponsible or lazy person.

Etymology

From Old French fay neant, alteration of feignant (“idler”), present participle of feindre, modelled on fait (“does”) + neant (“nothing”).

Inflected Forms

faineants (plural) fainéant (alternative)

Derived Forms

faineantism

Phrases

faineant deity

Synonyms

bum couch potato dawdler deadbeat dogfucker do-naught do-nothing dosser idler idleton faineant flaneur

Questions

How do you pronounce faineant?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈfeɪniənt/.
What does faineant mean?: An irresponsible or lazy person.
Where does faineant come from?: From Old French fay neant, alteration of feignant (“idler”), present participle of feindre, modelled on fait (“does”) + neant (“nothing”).

How to pronounce faineant

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “faineant”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈfeɪniənt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “faineant”.
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