lady bountiful

noun (plural lady bountifuls or ladies bountiful)

Usage: often capitalized L&B

Etymology: after Lady Bountiful, character in The Beaux' Stratagem (1707), play by George Farquhar died 1707 British dramatist born in Ireland

: a woman notable for or conspicuous in her benevolences

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pl. Lady Bountifuls, Ladies Bountiful.

1. a wealthy lady in George Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem, noted for her kindness and generosity.

2. (sometimes l.c.) a woman of noteworthy generosity or charity.

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Lady Bountiful

1. The charitable great lady of a district

2. An ironic name for a patronizingly generous female do-gooder

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Main Entry: ↑bounty

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Lady Bountiful noun (also without caps; often derogatory)

A rich and generous woman, often applied to one who is ostentatiously or offensively so (from a character in Farquhar's The Beaux’ Stratagem)

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Main Entry: ↑lady

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Lady Bountiful,

a kind and gracious, usually well-to-do, woman.

╂[< Lady Bountiful, a character in George Farquhar's play The Beaux' Stratagem]

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a woman who engages in ostentatious acts of charity, more to impress others than out of a sense of concern for those in need

Origin:

early 19th cent.: from the name of a character in Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem (1707)

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Lady Bountiful [Lady Bountiful] (BrE usu disapprov)

a woman, especially an upper-class woman, who likes to appear generous with her money or time. The name comes from a character in the play The Beaux’ Stratagem (1707) by the Irish writer George Farquhar (1678–1707)

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She likes to help out at the school and play Lady Bountiful.