MAN OF THE WORLD Definition & Meaning

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man of the world

noun

a man who is widely experienced in the ways of the world and people; an urbane, sophisticated man.

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of man of the world¹

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, woman of the world . A sophisticated person, experienced in social conventions. For example, You can discuss anything with him—he's a man of the world , or She's a woman of the world and understands these delicate issues . The first expression dates from about 1200 and originally meant “a man of the secular world” or “a married man” (that is, not a priest). Shakespeare applied this latter sense in As You Like It (5:3) where Audrey, at the prospect of marriage, says: “I hope it is no dishonest desire to be a woman of the world.” Henry Fielding in Tom Jones (1749) also echoed this earlier sense: “A man of the world; that is to say, a man who directs his conduct in this world as one, who being fully persuaded there is no other, is resolved to make the most of this.” By the mid-1800s the idea of sophistication had replaced this meaning.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“This one, it’s definitely like, ‘Title of fastest man of the world.

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While China was seen as the sick man of the world then, some commentators in China now attempt to brand the United States with that label.

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Darren wants to be thought of as a sophisticated man of the world.

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“I can’t be racist. I cannot be a Flemish nationalist. I cannot be a Belgian nationalist. I am a man of the world,” he told Reuters.

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Victor is a man of the world and understands he's nobody's fool.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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