GALLANT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does gallant mean? 

• GALLANT (noun)
  The noun GALLANT has 2 senses:

1. a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance

2. a man who attends or escorts a woman

  Familiarity information: GALLANT used as a noun is rare.

• GALLANT (adjective)
  The adjective GALLANT has 4 senses:

1. unflinching in battle or action

2. lively and spirited

3. having or displaying great dignity or nobility

4. being attentive to women like an ideal knight

  Familiarity information: GALLANT used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GALLANT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

beau; clotheshorse; dandy; dude; fashion plate; fop; gallant; sheik; swell

Hypernyms ("gallant" is a kind of...):

adult male; man (an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gallant"):

cockscomb; coxcomb (a conceited dandy who is overly impressed by his own accomplishments)

macaroni (a British dandy in the 18th century who affected Continental mannerisms)

Instance hyponyms:

Beau Brummell; Brummell; George Bryan Brummell (English dandy who was a fashion leader during the Regency (1778-1840))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A man who attends or escorts a woman

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

gallant; squire

Hypernyms ("gallant" is a kind of...):

attendant; attender; tender (someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of another)

Derivation:

gallant (being attentive to women like an ideal knight)

• GALLANT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Unflinching in battle or action

Context example:

put up a gallant resistance to the attackers

Similar:

brave; courageous (possessing or displaying courage; able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lively and spirited

Synonyms:

dashing; gallant

Context example:

a dashing hero

Similar:

spirited (displaying animation, vigor, or liveliness)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Having or displaying great dignity or nobility

Synonyms:

gallant; lofty; majestic; proud

Context example:

proud alpine peaks

Similar:

impressive (making a strong or vivid impression)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Being attentive to women like an ideal knight

Synonyms:

chivalrous; gallant; knightly

Similar:

courteous (characterized by courtesy and gracious good manners)

Derivation:

gallant (a man who attends or escorts a woman)

 Context examples 

What was the gallant grace of the Lynns, the languid elegance of Lord Ingram,—even the military distinction of Colonel Dent, contrasted with his look of native pith and genuine power?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

And, to our bitter grief, with a smile and in silence, he died, a gallant gentleman.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

So you sent the letters to my husband, and he—the noblest gentleman that ever lived, a man whose boots I was never worthy to lace—he broke his gallant heart and died.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Strange and harrowing must be his story, frightful the storm which embraced the gallant vessel on its course and wrecked it—thus!

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

To think of such a gallant service, and I engaged in harassing the market-boats, the miserable cabbage-carriers of St. Luccars!

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Without considering, perhaps, whether there were any consequences to be taken, I felt quite in a glow at this gallant speech.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"If you will come too," he answered, with a gallant little bow.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It was a rugged course, rocky and uneven, yet the two knights, choosing their men, dashed onwards at the top of their speed, while the gallant Spaniards flew as swiftly to meet them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But take it away, and all appropriation ceases, and a very pretty gallant charade remains, fit for any collection.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

She had nothing to dread from midnight assassins or drunken gallants.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)