noun
- Plural of lazzarone; the poor, idle people of Naples or other Italian cities, historically associated with street life and petty crime.
Usage: historical; often used in plural form; refers to a specific social class in 18th–19th century Italy
Examples
- The lazzaroni of Naples were depicted in 18th-century travel accounts as colorful but lawless inhabitants of the streets.
- Historians studied the lazzaroni to understand urban poverty in pre-modern Italy.
- The term lazzaroni evokes images of the bustling, chaotic streets of old Naples.
- Social reformers of the era were concerned with the growing population of lazzaroni in major cities.