subs. (old).—A high-flyer; a fop; a pretender to wit. For synonyms, see DANDY. Also (quot. 2), a BONNET (q.v.).
1779. BURNEY, Diary, etc. (1876), vol. I., p. 185. They are reckoned the FLASHERS of the place, yet everybody laughs at them for their airs, affectations, and tonish graces and impertinences.
1880. Derbyshire Gatherer, p. 128. Long before this date (circa 1800) the cant name of FLASHER was applied to the man who sat by the table in the gambling-house to swear how many times he had seen lucky gamesters break the bank.
