man of the world—a society man experienced in the ways of social life:
- My dear Sir Robert, you are a man of the world, and you have your price, I suppose.
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase citizen of the world—a person who is at home anywhere in the world; one who has no national prejudices:
- He is a real citizen of the world, and it is his humanism and his universal values that have earned him such esteem in the international community.
worldly man—a man concerned with material gains and advantages:
- From the moment one enters the foyer, one can detect that this is a worldly man of some means and possessed of good taste.