Green’s Dictionary of Slang

possessing the qualities of a dandy or rake.

[1805		Turf Register 133: Lord A. Hamilton’s Paragon; Mr. Talbott’s Corinthian; Mr. Cauty’s Paymaster [etc.].
1812		Egan Boxiana I 10: We never heard that he had ever sported his Corinthian canvas as a pugilist in the open ring.
1822		Egan Life in London [playbill] Tom (a Capital of the Corinthian Order) Mr. Baker.
1823		Commercial Advertiser (N.Y.) 17 Feb. 2/2: Cowan is quite a dandy in appearance, and he is now to receive what is called in London the Corinthian finish.
1834		H. Smith Gale Middleton 1 21: He behold some elderly bon-vivant of the Corinthian class.
1846		New Swell’s Night Guide to the Bowers of Venus 24: Who has not heard of this famous depot for Corinthian fun.
1850		Man of Pleasure’s Illus. Pocket-book n.p.: To the corinthian swell of the western hemisphere, the out-and-outer lads of the east, and the fast men in the suburbs, any description of this renowned hostelrie would indeed be a work supererogation.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum 125: corinthian canvas A term applied to the propria personae of an English nobleman who is an amateur of pugilism.
1862		Golden Age (Queenbeyan, NSW) 28 Aug. 3/4: Simpkins [was] the ‘Corinthian Patron’ who found the ‘blunt’ for the country yokel Ding Dong Hammer, when the Slashington Pet challenged the pugilistic world.
1890		Daily Tel. 25 Feb. 4, col. 7: Is it not curious that hotel proprietors [at Monte Carlo] should countenance, if not encourage, a Tom and Jerry tone and a wild Corinthian element, even in well-conducted restaurants? [F&H].