chinless wonder

plural chinless wonders

1. UKderogatoryslangAn ineffectual upper-class man, typically dim-witted and of a weak or indecisive character, frequently one who gained his position through nepotism or social connections.

   [Actor] John Harding personified the idle spirit of the times as a tennis-possessed chinless wonder.

   1979, The Spectator, volume 243, number 1, page 25

   2 more examples

   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.

   1948, Saturday Review of Literature, volume 31, page 18

   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

   1967, The Assistant Librarian, volumes 60–61, page 24

   Synonyms: upper-class twit