roi fainéant /ˌɹwɑː ˈfeɪnɪənt/ noun2 •A leader with only nominal power.He is a King Do-Nothing, a Roi Fainéant, who shirks and evades all the responsibilities of his position […] — 1898 •(historical) Any of the later French kings of the Merovingian dynasty, considered to have played a merely ceremonial role. formsrois fainéants