cavalier

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A gallant or chivalrous man, especially one serving as escort to a woman of high social position; a gentleman.
2. n. A mounted soldier; a knight.
3. n. A supporter of Charles I of England in his struggles against Parliament. Also called Royalist.
4. adj. Showing arrogant or offhand disregard; dismissive: a cavalier attitude toward the suffering of others.
5. adj. Carefree and nonchalant; jaunty.
6. adj. Of or relating to a group of 17th-century English poets associated with the court of Charles I.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A horseman, especially an armed horseman; a knight.
2. n. One who has the spirit or bearing of a knight; especially, a bold, reckless, and gay fellow.
3. n. [capitalized] The appellation given to the partizans of Charles I. of England in his contest with Parliament.
4. n. During some years they were designated as Cavaliers and Roundheads. They were subsequently called Tories and Whigs.
5. n. A man attending on or escorting a woman, or acting as her partner in dancing; a gallant; a beau.
6. n. In medieval fortification, a mound defended by walls and the like, raised so as to command the neighboring ramparts; hence, in modern fort., a raised work commonly situated within the bastion, but sometimes placed in the gorges, or on the middle of the curtain. It is 10 or 12 feet higher than the rest of the works, and is used to command all the adjacent works and the surrounding country. It is designed chiefly to bring a plunging fire to bear on the assailants' works exterior to the enceinte.
7. n. In the manège, one who understands horse-manship; a skilled or practised rider.
8. Knightly; brave; warlike.
9. Gay; sprightly; easy; offhand; frank; careless.
10. Haughty; disdainful; supercilious: as, a rude and cavalier answer.
11. [capitalized] Belonging or relating to the party of Charles I. of England.
12. To act as a cavalier; ape the manners of a cavalier; carry one's self in a disdainful or high-handed fashion: sometimes followed by it: as, to try to cavalier it over one's associates.

Wiktionary

1. adj. Not caring enough about something important.
2. adj. High-spirited.
3. adj. Supercilious; haughty; disdainful; curt; brusque.
4. adj. Of or pertaining to the party of King Charles I.
5. n. A military man serving on horse.
6. n. A sprightly, military man; hence, a gallant.
7. n. One of the court party in the time of King Charles I, as contrasted with a Roundhead or an adherent of Parliament.
8. n. A work of more than ordinary height, rising from the level ground of a bastion, etc, and overlooking surrounding parts.
9. n. A well mannered man; a gentleman.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A military man serving on horseback; a knight.
2. n. A gay, sprightly, military man; hence, a gallant.
3. n. One of the court party in the time of king Charles I. as contrasted with a Roundhead or an adherent of Parliament.
4. n. A work of more than ordinary height, rising from the level ground of a bastion, etc., and overlooking surrounding parts.
5. adj. offhand; unceremonious; gay; easy; frank. Opposed to serious.
6. adj. High-spirited.
7. adj. Supercilious; haughty; disdainful; curt; brusque.
8. adj. Of or pertaining to the party of King Charles I.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a royalist supporter of Charles I during the English Civil War
2. adj. given to haughty disregard of others
3. n. a gallant or courtly gentleman