DANDY appeared in English circa 1780. It either came from the Scottish DANDY, short for Andrew; or derived from the French DANDIN. Originally, were contemptuously called DANDIES, in the frontier region between Scotland and England, the young men who went to church or to the annual fair in an eccentric suit.

Who coined the term dandy?

Charles Baudelaire defined the dandy, in the later "metaphysical" phase of dandyism, as one who elevates æsthetics to a living religion, that the dandy's mere existence reproaches the responsible citizen of the middle class: "Dandyism in certain respects comes close to spirituality and to stoicism" and "These beings ...

What did the term dandy mean?

1 : a man who gives exaggerated attention to personal appearance. 2 : something excellent in its class a dandy of a game. dandy. adjective. dandier; dandiest.