Gentleman of leisure

Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations attributes 'gentleman of leisure' and its female corollary to Thorstein Veblen (1827-1929) the American economist and sociologist. His most famous and widely read work was The Theory of the Leisure Class, published in 1899 in which he writes, “Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.” The coinage of 'conspicuous consumption' is also attributed to him.