Strephon
nounEtymology From Ancient Greek στρέφων (stréphōn), the active present participle of Ancient Greek στρέφω (stréphō, “to twist, to avert”, verb), chiefly from its use as the name of a rustic lover in Sir Philip Sidney's 1593 pastoral romance The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia.
1
Literary A male lover.
- […] those palmy days of pastoral revelry;—when every lover was a Damon or a Strephon, and his beloved a Delia or a Celia.1855, Frederick Lawrence, The life of Henry Fielding:
- I am still sick with his sentimentality of a Strephon. He is a flippant coxcomb.1862, Theodore Winthrop, Edwin Brothertoft:
2 more examples
- All their tunes were gay and lively ones, and the younger men moved their feet to the music, while a Strephon at the lower end of the lists seized upon a blooming Chloe, and the two began to dance "as if," quoth the Colonel, "the musicians were so many tarantula doctors."1901, The Atlantic Monthly, volume 87:
- Nero Wolfe: You know, of course, that Orrie Cather is in custody. What you don't know is that he was on intimate terms with Miss Kerr for about a year and she told him many things about you, her provider. Naturally, she told you nothing of him, her Strephon.2002 April 14, Sharon Elizabeth Doyle & al., "Death of a Doxy", Nero Wolfe
- Synonyms
- lover and Thesaurus:sexual partner