farouche

[prettygoodword]

farouche (fa-ROOSH) - adj., shy and socially awkward, sullen and recalcitrant; disorderly, wild, fierce.


A direct borrowing in the 1760s of the French, which had at the time the same meanings (it now, as I understand it, can also mean staunch and stubborn, but the English word doesn't have those senses). The origin of that word is not certain, but it almost certainly was from Late Latin forāsticus, belonging outside, i.e. not suitable for indoors and thus not behaving properly among cultured people, which we know for sure is from Latin forās, out of doors (which is also ancestor of foreign).

---L.

Comments

[lilysea]

I was like

"Isn't a farouche a fancy old fashioned carriage?"

but that's actually a barouche.

[prettygoodword]

I have made that exact same mistake.

[full_metal_ox]

I’m imagining it as the name of a cologne with an emphasis on animalic, grassy, and woodsy notes and an edgy advertising campaign.

[prettygoodword]

Heavy on the civet.