English - English
Definition of bunbury in English English dictionary
- Create a fictitious scenario that provides an excuse for avoiding unwanted engagements
- An imaginary person whose name one invokes in order to furnish oneself with an excuse not to do something, from Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (1899): 'I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose.' Bunbury is the name of an actual village in Cheshire but, in fact, Wilde took the name from a friend of his youth, Henry S. Bunbury - who lived in Gloucestershire (source: Richard Ellman, Oscar Wilde, 1987)