lothario

noun

lo·​thar·​io lō-ˈther-ē-ˌō  -ˈthär- 

variants often Lothario

plural lotharios

: a man whose chief interest is seducing women

Did you know?

Lothario comes from The Fair Penitent (1703), a tragedy by Nicholas Rowe. In the play, Lothario is a notorious seducer, extremely attractive but a haughty and unfeeling scoundrel beneath his charming exterior. He seduces Calista, an unfaithful wife and later the fair penitent of the title. After the play was published, the character of Lothario became a stock figure in English literature. For example, Samuel Richardson modeled the character of Lovelace on Lothario in his 1748 novel Clarissa. As the character became well known, his name became progressively more generic, and lothario (often capitalized) has since been used to describe a foppish, unscrupulous rake.

Synonyms of lothario

• womanizer
• lover

Examples of lothario in a Sentence

a novel about the loveless existence of an aging lothario

Recent Examples on the Web

Michael Park’s Zeus is a grade-A lothario, the kind of man your mother warned you about. — David Lyman, Cincinnati Enquirer, 27 Sep. 2025

Honestly, what could be more French than a pastry chef who is also a lothario who is also a writer who is also a spy? — Emily Temple march 28, Literary Hub, 28 Mar. 2025

In a Cinderella-esque twist, that woman is actually a maid named Sophie, who is right under the same roof as our lovestruck lothario. — Jillian Sederholm, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Dec. 2025

Or where LaKeith Stanfield, as an elusive local lothario, uses his legend-has-it oral sex skills to literally suck the souls out of women. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 12 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Lothario, seducer in the play The Fair Penitent (1703) by Nicholas Rowe

First Known Use

1756, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for lothario

• barrio

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