swain

It is Elizabeth, not her equally eccentric and stubborn swain, who refuses to wed “because I can’t risk having my scientific contributions submerged beneath your name.”

When her earlier swain returns from the war, he goes on a regretful bender, but then he, too, settles for someone else.

John Mayer — one of her increasingly famous short-term swains — said he was “humiliated” by her song “Dear John.”

Like a handsome but withholding swain, Elba draws us back to “Luther” time and again.

The performers are often Bambi-eyed maidens and clean-cut swains who have not necessarily been recruited for their vocal gifts.