demimondes

Noun

demimonde (plural demimondes)

1. (chiefly historical (19th-century France)) A class of women maintained by wealthy protectors; female courtesans or prostitutes as a group.
   • A most remarkable instance of this was afforded in the play of Camille by the performance of the supper-scene. The stage in this scene is supposed to represent a supper-room, enlivened by the presence of a party of young Parisians, more gay, indeed, than respectable, but still Parisians, and...1857 May, “The World of New York”, in Putnam’s Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science, and Art, volume IX, number LIII, New York, N.Y.: Miller & Company, […]; London: Sampson Low, Son &...
2. (broadly) A group having little respect or reputation.
   • the literary demimonde
3. (broadly) A member of such a class or group of persons.
   • Those who seek pleasure in a round of dances and fashionable frolic, where the german and the horse-race, the card-table and the drive, are the order of the day, will gather to the sea side and the spa; they will seek Newport, the maelstrom of money; or Long Branch with its broiling sun and its...1869 June, “Summer Recreations”, in W. W. Hall, editor, Hall’s Journal of Health, volume XVI, number VI, New York, N.Y.: W. W. Hall, publisher, […], →OCLC, page 119