Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A woman belonging to the demimonde.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A member of the demi-monde.
Wiktionary
- n. A sexually promiscuous woman (of the demimonde)
WordNet 3.0
- n. a woman whose sexual promiscuity places her outside respectable society
Etymologies
- French, from demi-monde, demimonde; see demimonde.
Examples
“Valérie Larbin was what the chroniclers of society—or their putative sons, the social novelists—would have called a demimondaine.”
“In an effort to sanitize Paramount's portrait of a demimondaine, the studio publicity department churned out reams of flapdoodle, defining Holly as a "kook" rather than a B-girl.”
“Adapted from Colette's eponymous novel, the film follows the affair of Lea de Lonval (Michelle Pfeiffer), a retired, luscious courtesan in her fifty's, and Cheri (Rupert Friend), the exquisite, wanton son of a rival demimondaine (Kathy Bates).”
“She refused to have a life of a demimondaine (courtesan).”
Lesley M. M. Blume: Coco Before Chanel's Audrey Tautou Talks Fashion, Fury, And Smoking
“In the moralistic atmosphere of 1950s Hollywood, it was tricky to present Colette's account of the risqué demimondaine, and its glorification of the courtesans who relied on wealthy playboys and aristocrats to live in a state of opulence.”
The Wall Street Journal: France's Courtesan Queen Returns to the Silver Screen
“They certainly have one vocal demimondaine and craving consummate pandering Senator who is currently lusting for the American Presidency.”
The Democrat Demimondaine and Consummate Pandering Politician: Hillary Clinton
“Alison knew of this place from her early days as one of the demimondaine-but of course, unlike the rest of her sisters-in-sin, she'd had the means at her disposal to ensure she got a wedding ring before too long into her arrangement.”
Phoenix And Ashes
“She viewed herself as she was sure Jake would: a twenty-five-year-old woman, grossly tall, apparently too clumsy to hold a book, and with a demimondaine petticoat contradicting a dress sewn for a much younger woman.”
“Rosemarie Nitribitt (Nina Hoss) is a Marilyn Monroe-like pretty girl in her 20's who sleeps her way into the highest circles of German industry and officialdom, but always as a demimondaine unacknowledged by high society.”
“He meets a demimondaine lady of a certain age, Mrs. Tanis Judique.”
Lists
‘demimondaine’ hasn't been added to any lists yet.
smrtrthnu a class of women on the fringes of respectable society supported by wealthy lovers (usually each had several). Oct 11, 2008