Chinless-wonder Definition

noun

(UK, derogatory) An ineffectual upper-class male, typically dim-witted and with a weak or indecisive character, frequently one who gained his position via nepotism or other social connections.

1948, volume 31, page 18: This was probably the most insufferable social event of a very dull season. The bride blushingly gave her age as forty-two, but the old battle-axe could have been an eye-witness to the San Francisco Fire. At long last, little Dagmar's folks have got her married off to Morty, the chinless wonder. He couldn't hold down a job as grocery clerk, and will be manager of father-in-law's wholesale grocery firm.

1967, The Assistant Librarian, volume 60–61, page 24: She is thin, starved to near perfection […] He, a chinless wonder, a credit to Carnaby Street; they stand hand in hand before the enquiry desk.

1979, The Spectator, volume 243, number 1, page 25: [Actor] John Harding personified the idle spirit of the times as a tennis-possessed chinless wonder.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Chinless-wonder

Noun

Singular:

chinless-wonder

Plural:

chinless-wonders

Origin of Chinless-wonder

The term is derived from the characteristic recessive chin of some aristocrats, popularly thought to be caused by inbreeding and associated with limited intelligence, and from the idea of a robust chin being an indication of masculinity. The use of 'wonder' is ironic.

From Wiktionary