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Permanent link for this word: Don Juan

Jan 25, 2013

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Eponyms

This week's words
silhouette
casanova
xanthippe
shrapnel
Don Juan

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Don Juan

PRONUNCIATION:

(don wahn)

MEANING:

noun: An obsessive womanizer.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Don Juan, a legendary 14th century Spanish nobleman, who devoted his life to seducing women. The story of Don Juan has been portrayed by many including Moliere, Mozart, Byron, and Shaw. Earliest documented use: 1848.

USAGE:

"Oscar had always been a Don Juan ... but now that we were nearly 50, there was something desperate about his mania for conquests."
Leif Davidsen; Lime's Photograph; Vintage Books; 2002.

See more usage examples of Don Juan in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: they must be fit for it; they must not do too much of it; and they must have a sense of success in it. -John Ruskin, author, art critic, and social reformer (1819-1900)

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