la quarantaine fuselee

Hi, has anyone come across this saying before? It's in a novel and describes a man, who is 'un homme seduisant, la quarantiane fuselee' - fusele(e) I know can mean tapering/slender/thinning etc, so does this mean the better side of forty? Or just past forty? Or...??? Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Benoît on April 19, 2011 at 11:36am

In my opinion "quarantaine fuselée" refers to the physical appearance of the man.
In this case a man in his forty with a "slender" body shape (I don't know if "slender" has a positive connotation in English, but in French "fuselé" is clearly appreciator)
For example a woman can have "des jambes fuselées (au galbe magnifique)".

Instead of "un homme seduisant, la quarantiane fuselee" you can say "un homme, la quarantaine séduisante, le corps fuselé"...