Roue

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An individual who leads a lifestyle centered on enjoyment, often pursuing pleasure in both romantic and sensual forms, while favoring luxury and indulgence over responsibility
2. A character defined by seeking pleasure and enjoyment often through luxurious experiences and indulgent behaviors while ignoring obligations and responsibilities
3. A person who indulges excessively in sensual pleasures and enjoys a life of luxury without concern for duties

Etymology: In French, roué once described a man who deserved to be broken on the wheel, a form of execution in which the body was struck with a heavy bar and then bound to a wheel. It comes from the verb rouer, "to break on the wheel," which descends from Latin "rota," wheel. English "rotate" is a doublet of the same Latin root, so the two words are cousins that entered English by different routes. The sense then drifted from the gruesome to the rakish. A man who deserved the wheel became a scoundrel, and French usage shifted toward a debauched libertine who pursued pleasure and ignored decency. English took the term from French in that later sense, so its violent origin survives mainly in its root.

Synonyms: debauchee, libertine, dissipated

Antonyms: virtuous, moral, upright