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
- From French -esque ("-ish, -ic, -esque"), from Italian -esco, from Latin -iscus, of Germanic origin, from Lombardic -isc ("-ish"), from Proto-Germanic *-iskaz (“-ish”), from Proto-Indo-European *-iskos. Cognate with Old High German -isc (German -isch), Old English -isc, Old Norse -iskr, Gothic -𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃 (-isks). More at -ish. (Wiktionary)
- French, from Italian -esco, from Vulgar Latin *-iscus, of Germanic origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
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.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘-esque’.
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Vocab
Words that I come across, and go blank, or want to clarify.
nefarious, edifice, malevolent, ostensible, folderol, bauble, livid, amnesty, calculus, saddlery, maisonette, cuisse and 423 more...
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Master
comprehensive
picaresque, carnivalesque, -esque, grotesque, Cocteau, necropolis, hypnopædic, mojito, imprimatur, insouciance, idyll, maestro and 239 more...
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geekery
allophone, affix, colon, -esque, apostrophe, semi-colon, textually, whorfian, adjectival, full stop, anthropomorphism, hyperbole and 10 more...
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Favorite Words.
Some of my favorite words, whether it be because of the way it sounds, the definition, or the way it looks......
taquitos, taphophile, pseudonym, spiffy, vapid, effulgent, vodka, lilith, spork, corpse, loath, roulette and 28 more...
Tweets
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