Farouche

WORD OF THE DAY

farouche / adjective / fuh-ROOSH

Definition
1a: unruly or disorderly
1b: wild
2: marked by shyness and lack of social graces

Examples
"Though she wrote three 'novels' (more extended free associations than novels as we know them), she is best thought of as a poet of small, farouche poems illustrated with doodles…."
— Rosemary Dinnage, The New York Review of Books, 25 June 1987

"Jeremy Irons's natural mode as an actor is fastidious rather than farouche, but he perfectly captures James Tyrone's professional extravagance and personal meanness."
— Michael Arditti, The Sunday Express, 11 Feb. 2018

Did You Know?
In French, farouche can mean "wild" or "shy," just as it does in English.
It is an alteration of the Old French word forasche, which derives via Late Latin forasticus ("living outside") from Latin foras, meaning "outdoors."
In its earliest English uses, in the middle of the 18th century, farouche was used to describe someone who was awkward in social situations, perhaps as one who has lived apart from groups of people.
The word can also mean "disorderly," as in "farouche ruffians out to cause trouble."