Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Unsociable or shy and socially awkward.
  • adjective Disorderly or intimidating in appearance or behavior; wild.
  • adjective Outrageous or extreme.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Distant or repellent in manner; unsociable; shy.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Sullen or recalcitrant.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French faroche, alteration of forasche, from Late Latin forāsticus, belonging outside, from Latin forās, out of doors; see foreign.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French farouche.

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Examples

  • Mirabeau (who was to be the father of the famous orator) was a man of talent, but violent, chimerical and lawless, "farouche," as he himself put it.

    Three French Moralists and The Gallantry of France Edmund Gosse 1888

  • His ascendancy among his countrymen was perfectly undisputed, and being possessed of great muscular strength, with that peculiarly "farouche" exterior, without which courage is nothing in France, he was in every way calculated for the infamous leadership he assumed.

    The Confessions of Harry Lorrequer — Complete Charles James Lever 1839

  • His ascendancy among his countrymen was perfectly undisputed, and being possessed of great muscular strength, with that peculiarly "farouche" exterior, without which courage is nothing in France, he was in every way calculated for the infamous leadership he assumed.

    The Confessions of Harry Lorrequer — Volume 5 Charles James Lever 1839

  • In the meantime also if you ask me, some of these straight boys are enjoying the farouche walk-on-the-wild-side thrill of going there.

    Kevin Killian: What I Saw at the Orono Conference 2008, part 7 Dodie Bellamy 2008

  • In the meantime also if you ask me, some of these straight boys are enjoying the farouche walk-on-the-wild-side thrill of going there.

    Archive 2008-10-01 Dodie Bellamy 2008

  • “Lúlúah,” which may mean the Union-pearl; but here used in the sense of wild cow, the bubalus antelope, alluding to the farouche nature of Miss Jamilah.

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • By these she was adored, and loved like a mother almost, for as such the hearty kindly girl showed herself to them; but at home she was alone, farouche and intractable, and did battle with the governesses, and overcame them one after another.

    The Newcomes 2006

  • I notice the most farouche men do when they are engaged.

    Red Pottage 2004

  • I could only see him in profile; but there was no mistaking the white moustache, the farouche visage, and the gaunt six-foot stature.

    The Room in the Dragon Volant 2003

  • His manner was superficially assured, underneath perhaps half-savage, shy and farouche, and deprecating.

    The Plumed Serpent 2003

Comments

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  • 1. fierce.

    2. sullenly unsociable or shy.

    February 12, 2008

  • "Undie shops run a staple line in playful pantees with clefts in the crotch and cheering inscriptions upon them, all diaphanous and vivid in black and white or red or leopard-skin for the truly farouche."

    - 'Going Without', Germaine Greer in The Sunday Times, 1971.

    April 13, 2008

  • "I've never liked Richmond Park's contrived ambience of the farouche — a centuries' old shtick."

    Psychogeography by Will Self, 30

    October 11, 2010

  • Essentially an autoantonym? But perhaps the withdrawn can also be wild.

    January 29, 2013

  • André wore a sneer on his bouche

    Intended to mark him farouche.

    But his faux mystery

    Was mostly gaucherie;

    The poor guy appeared only louche.

    April 10, 2017