lothario
noun
-ˈthär-
Did you know?
Lothario comes from The Fair Penitent (1703), a tragedy by Nicholas Rowe. In the play, Lothario is a notorious seducer, extremely attractive but a haughty and unfeeling scoundrel beneath his charming exterior. He seduces Calista, an unfaithful wife and later the fair penitent of the title. After the play was published, the character of Lothario became a stock figure in English literature. For example, Samuel Richardson modeled the character of Lovelace on Lothario in his 1748 novel Clarissa. As the character became well known, his name became progressively more generic, and lothario (often capitalized) has since been used to describe a foppish, unscrupulous rake.
Examples of lothario in a Sentence
Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 19 Mar. 2025
Then there was Barney Stinson, the philandering lothario ultimately brought to life by Neil Patrick Harris.
—Victoria Edel, People.com, 18 Mar. 2025
Yet modernizing the martini-loving lothario too much poses its own issues.
—Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 26 Feb. 2025
This could be the start of something more and bigger for the R&B lothario.
—Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lothario
Cite this Entry
“Lothario.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lothario. Accessed 21 Apr. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share