beau /bəʊ $ boʊ/ BrE AmE noun ( plural beaux /bəʊz $ boʊz/ or beaus ) [countable] old-fashioned
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: French ; Origin: beau 'beautiful' , from Latin bellus ; ⇨ ↑ beauty ]
1 . a woman’s close friend or lover
2 . a fashionable well-dressed man
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THESAURUS
▪ boyfriend a boy or man that you have a romantic relationship with, especially for a fairly long time:
Josh was my first boyfriend.
▪ partner the person you are married to, or the person you are living with and having a sexual relationship with:
Sweden allows gay partners to receive many of the same benefits that married couples get.
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Partners are also welcome.
▪ fiancé the man whom a woman is going to marry:
Her fiancé was killed in the war.
▪ lover someone who you have a sexual relationship with, without being married to them:
A few nights later, they became lovers.
▪ ex informal a woman’s former husband or boyfriend:
Her ex has caused a lot of trouble for her.
▪ old flame informal someone who was your boyfriend in the past:
In a box in the closet, I found love letters from one of her old flames.
▪ man informal a woman’s husband or boyfriend:
She’ll always stand by her man.
▪ sweetheart old-fashioned the person that you love:
They were childhood sweethearts.
▪ beau old-fashioned a woman’s boyfriend or lover - a very old-fashioned use:
Does she have a beau?
▪ toy boy informal humorous a young man who is having a sexual relationship with an older woman:
A woman with a toy boy gets a lot more disapproving looks than a man with a younger woman.
▪ sugar daddy informal an older man who gives a younger woman presents and money in return for their company and often for sex:
I can imagine her cashing checks from some mysterious sugar daddy.
▪ be going out with somebody if you are going out with a boy or man, you have him as your boyfriend:
She’s been going out with Jack for a couple of months.
⇨ ↑ girlfriend