flânerie

[ flahnuh-ree ]

noun

, French.

1. seemingly aimless lounging or strolling around; idleness.

flânerie

/ flɑnri /

noun

1. aimless strolling or lounging; idleness

Word History and Origins

Origin of flânerie¹

First recorded in 1870–75; from French, from Norman French dialect, from Norman French flanner ( French flâner ) “to waste time, walk about aimlessly” + -erie; -ery ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of flânerie¹

C19: from flâner to stroll, dawdle, ultimately from Old Norse flana to wander about

Example Sentences

There is something of flânerie in Relph’s methods, or what he and Payne have called “power-dossing,” a tweak on the British slang for avoiding work by wandering around.

From New York Times

True to the casual, aimless nature of flânerie — or casual idling — Elkin’s forays into street life in Paris, New York, London, Venice and Tokyo are interspersed with glimpses of the creative excursions of Virginia Woolf, Agnès Varda, Jean Rhys, George Sand, Martha Gellhorn and many other women who have dared to step boldly forth out of the shadow of comparatively freewheeling male flâneurs.

From Seattle Times

It’s an experience specific to Baudelaire’s 19th-century flânerie — strolling through the world as the world flows around you — but it should be familiar to anyone who’s watched a masked stranger float past their window.

From Washington Post

There’s this – and there’s the delight of true flânerie: the ambulatory pursuit of chance encounters, overheard aperçus, and those little unrepeatable vignettes that constitute the never-ending drama of urban life.

From The Guardian

But they provide an attractive backdrop for flânerie.

From The Guardian