Meanings
plural Tom Joneses
- rareA desirable man of loose morals, prone to having sex with many women.
You know he's not the king of Bedside Manor. He's not the Tom Jones who lives next door.
1992, Barenaked Ladies, “The King of Bedside Manor”, in Gordon1 more example
All men are not Tom Joneses. The standard of masculine behaviour continues to go up: many of us make fine efforts to conform to it, and some of us succeed. But the Tom Jones is there in all of us who are not anaemic or consumptive.
1909, Jerome K. Jerome, chapter X, in They and ISynonyms: casanova, Don Juan, lady-killer, Lothario
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA desirable man of loose morals, prone to having sex with many women.
Origin
After the title character in The History of Tom Jones, written by Henry Fielding and published in 1749; now perhaps also influenced by the Welsh singer of the same name and similar reputation.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Tom Jones. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tom%20Jones
“Tom Jones.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tom%20Jones. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Tom Jones,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tom%20Jones.
Source: Tom Jones on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.