Bluebeard

A famous fairy tale written by Charles Perrault in 1697 about a violent nobleman who has the habit of murdering his wives and the attempts of his current wife to avoid the same fate.

Proper noun

  1. A famous fairy tale written by Charles Perrault in 1697 about a violent nobleman who has the habit of murdering his wives and the attempts of his current wife to avoid the same fate.
  2. The nobleman who is the title character of the story.

Origin

Calque of French Barbe-Bleue (literally “blue beard”).

Noun

  1. A man who marries and then murders one wife after another.
    • Henry never lived down his reputation as a Bluebeard, and only a few years before his death sporting gentlemen in Antwerp were laying bets that the English Lothario would divorce and marry once again. - 2012, Lacey...

Forms

Bluebeards

Derived

Bluebeardesque