Fop. n.s. [A word probably made by chance, and therefore without etymology.] A simpleton; a coxcomb; a man of small understanding and much ostentation; a pretender; a man fond of show, dress, and flutter; an impertinet.

            A whole tribe of fops,
Got 'tween asleep and wake. Shakespeare's King Lear.

When such a positive abandon'd fop,
Among his numerous absurdities,
Stumbles upon some tolerable line,
I fret to see them in such company. Roscommon.

The leopard's beauty, without the fox's wit, is no better than a fop in a gay coat. L'Estrange.

In a dull stream, which moving slow,
You hardly see the current flow;
When a small breeze obstructs the course,
It whirls about for want of force,
And in its narrow circle gathers
Nothing but chaff, and straws, and feathers:
The current of a female mind
Stops thus, and turns with ev'ry wind;
Thus whirling round, together draws
Fools, fops, and rakes, for chaff and straws. Swift.