English

Noun

Dapper Dan ‎(plural Dapper Dans)

1. (informal) A man who dresses and is groomed in a fancy, elegant, or fastidious manner.
   • 2001 Dec. 18, "Timothy C. Kelly: A Dapper Throwback," New York Times (retrieved 12 Dec 2012):

     Timothy C. Kelly cultivated a taste for the chivalry and silk handkerchiefs of his parents' generation. "He was a man who enjoyed the finer things in life," said his wife, Julie. ". . . He was a Dapper Dan."

   • 2010, Charles F. Lee, The Adventures of Ickle, Packy, Pickle and Gooch, ISBN 9781453566381, p. 49:

     “We call him Dapper Dan,” the chief pointed to a well-dressed man wearing a white shirt, tie, and a three-piece pin-striped suit.

   • 2011, Colleen McCullough, Naked Cruelty, ISBN 9781770870468, (Google preview):

     [T]hey sat together in the front row, together with a very elderly fellow of the kind Carmine always called a “Dapper Dan”—a bit like the 1930s movie star, William Powell, even including the little mustache.

See also

• Alibi Ike, doubting Thomas, gloomy Gus, good-time Charlie, nervous Nellie, plain Jane, Silent Sam