Meaning of roi fainéant | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Any of the later French kings of the Merovingian dynasty, considered to have played a merely ceremonial role.
   historical
2. A leader with only nominal power.

Equivalents

Examples

“Whether it be some Visigothic chieftain raised on a shield above the shoulders of his shouting warriors, some Roi Fainéant of the Merovingian race, a listless, pallid, long-haired kingling, dragged languidly through the streets in a painted wagon by sleek oxen, […] it seems clear to me that we must have some sort of a show, and a pageant, and a ‘barbaric pomp’ of procession.”

“He is a King Do-Nothing, a Roi Fainéant, who shirks and evades all the responsibilities of his position […]”

“Although Jacques Chirac more recently gave the role a distinctly sleepy, roi fainéant flavor, it remains a throne more than a mere office.”

CEFR level