Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. In the manner of; resembling: Lincolnesque.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- A termination in adjectives of French or other Romance origin, meaning ‘having the style or manner of,’ as in grotcsque, picturesq ue, arabesque, Moresque, Dantesque, etc.
Wiktionary
- n. In the style or manner of; appended to nouns, especially proper nouns, and forming adjectives.
- n. Resembling; appended to nouns, especially proper nouns, and forming adjectives.
GNU Webster's 1913
- A suffix of certain words from the French, Italian, and Spanish. It denotes
manner orstyle ;like .
Etymologies
- French, from Italian -esco, from Vulgar Latin *-iscus, of Germanic origin.
Examples
“The good professor's recent "there's no heaven" moment of "Imagine"-esque aplomb is what it is.”
The Huffington Post: Christopher Cocca: Heaven, Hell And Stephen Hawking
“Hardy gained an additional 30 lbs. of muscle thanks to physical training and lived out a "Rocky"-esque fantasy in scenes where he waded through crowds of cheering fans on his way toward the fighting cage.”
The Huffington Post: Tom Hardy, from 'Warrior' battles to Batman brawls
“In other words, investors don't see Harrisburg heralding a Meredith Whitney -esque muni-meltdown.”
“The judges sit in "Jetsons"-esque chairs facing away from the performers, so they focus only on the quality of the voices.”
“In forming an adjective, -esque strikes me as a more elegant suffix than -ish, as in enronish or the less critical enronlike.”
Simon & Schuster: The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time
“ABC's new "Desperate Housewives"-esque dramedy has gone through a few good names: "Good Christian Bitches" was toned down a bit to "Good Christian Belles" and...”
“Driven by mandolin, acoustic guitar and Zuniga's unmistakably Lennon -esque vocals, the tune, co-written by Oreste Gargaro, describes an experience not uncommon for touring musicians: writing a love song while far away from its subject.”
“Srsly? and are saturated with references to popular culture in a "Scrubs"-y/"Community"-esque attempt to delight the young'uns.”
The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - washingtonpost.com
“If you don't want a "Nanny Diaries"-esque roman a clef surfacing, it may cost you.”
“Aside from having a very "Fantastic Four"-esque name, Reed also had a great voice.”
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