mari complaisant

English

WOTD – 24 July 2011

Etymology

Borrowed from French mari (“husband”) + complaisant (“tolerant, acquiescent”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌmaɹi ˈkɒ̃(m)plɛzɒ̃/, /ˌmaɹi kɒ̃(m)plɛˈzɒ̃/

  Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /məˌɹi kɑmplɛˈzɑnt/

Noun

mari complaisant (plural maris complaisants)

1. A husband who tolerates his spouse's adultery. [from 19th c.]
   • 1957, Lawrence Durrell, Justine:

     She was reputed to have had many lovers, and Nessim was regarded as a mari complaisant.

   • 1988, James Fox, White Mischief:

     “And when Vera wanted to go off with Lord Moyne, he would say, ‘I hope you have fun. God bless you. See you when you get back.’ That's not to say his feelings weren't hurt. He was too weak to say no — a mari complaisant.”

   • 2005 November 6, Nick Cohen, The Guardian:

     Stephen Quinn, mari complaisant of Blunkett's former lover, Kimberly Quinn, told a colleague of mine that he resented being called rich.

Translations

husband who tolerates his wife's adultery

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: կնոջ անհավատարմությունը չտեսնելու տվող ամուսին (knoǰ anhavatarmutʻyunə čʻtesnelu tvoġ amusin)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 乌龟 (zh) (wūguī), 戴绿帽子 (zh) (lǜmàozi)的人

• Czech: spokojený paroháč
• Finnish: salliva mies
• French: mari complaisant m
• German: Cuckold m
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: corno manso m
• Russian: муж, закрыва́ющий глаза́ на неве́рность жены́ m (muž, zakryvájuščij glazá na nevérnostʹ žený)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

See also

• cuckold
• wittol

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.ʁi kɔ̃.plɛ.zɑ̃/, /ma.ʁi kɔ̃.ple.zɑ̃/

Noun

mari complaisant m (plural maris complaisants)

1. mari complaisant