Jellyby

plural Jellybys · plural Jellybies · alternative Mrs. Jellyby

1. A philanthropist who cares only for people in distant regions, or people away from their own household.

   My mother, devoted to music, was a Jellyby. Strictly brought up, straight backed, never careless of her person, but still as to her children, a Jellyby.

   1992, Bernard Shaw, Rebecca Swift, Letters from Margaret: correspondence between Bernard Shaw and Margaret Wheeler 1944-1950

   1 more example

   Chuck Collins, a great-grandson of Oscar Mayer, is a rare non-fictional example of someone who gave away all his assets during his lifetime—a half-million-dollar inheritance, which he donated to charity nearly twenty years ago. […] He now has a daughter, who does not live like a Jellyby.

   2005, American Society of Magazine Editors, The Best American Magazine Writing 2005, page 360