noun
Lovelace
noun
1
A charming but unprincipled seducer of women; a smooth-talking libertine.
"He had the reputation of a lovelace, flattering every woman at the party in turn."
"She had heard enough about the man to know he was a lovelace who never meant what he said."
How to Use Lovelace
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA slick, insincere charmer who seduces and discards women — named after a novel's villain.
When to use it
Old-fashioned and literary; rarely used in ordinary modern speech outside historical or literary contexts.
Word Forms
Lovelaces plural, Lovelaces plural
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He had the reputation of a _____, flattering every woman at the party in turn.
Etymology
From Robert Lovelace, the charming but manipulative seducer in Samuel Richardson's 1748 novel "Clarissa" — his name became a byword for the type.