Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Reminiscent of the works of George Gordon Byron, typified by gloomy Romantic themes and passionate, arrogant and self-destructive heroes.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Byron +‎ -esque

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Examples

  • But the novel's irony, of course, is that Branwell--that great failure--manages, ever so briefly, to successfully create himself as the kind of Byronesque sexual adventurer he has fantasized about all along.

    The Little Professor: 2007

  • But the novel's irony, of course, is that Branwell--that great failure--manages, ever so briefly, to successfully create himself as the kind of Byronesque sexual adventurer he has fantasized about all along.

    Branwell 2007

  • Rather than presiding over talking heads on a sofa, presenter Raphaël Enthoven—a professor of philosophy who happens to look like a Byronesque hero—goes out on location to walk and talk with other intellectuals.

    I Think, Therefore I Am Happy Lennox Morrison 2011

  • Tinkering around with the idea, I'd felt positively Byronesque.

    New Race Joe Sullivan 2010

  • The modern version of that Byronesque figure would be Dashan 大山, aka Mark Rowswell.

    languagehat.com: CHINESE 'JEW.' 2005

  • A single sentence in his handwriting is all that he tells us of this period, of which he might have told so much, and in this he shows a disposition to look at the affair rather in its humorous than in its Byronesque aspect.

    Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 22. July, 1878. Various

  • Byronesque, and it seems to preach revenge by treachery.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 10: Mass Music-Newman 1840-1916 1913

  • Fans of vampire fiction who are bored by the endless hordes of sensitive, misunderstood Byronesque bloodsuckers will revel in Cronin's engrossingly horrific account of a post-apocalyptic America overrun by the gruesome reality behind the wish-fulfillment fantasies.

    Publishers Weekly - Children's Books News 2010

  • Of course, it all rests on the persona of Paul Banks, to some an ersatz Michael Stipe, to others a dreamscape tour guide comprising equal parts music-mag centerfold and Byronesque man-of-feeling.

    Tucson Weekly 2010

  • Imagine yourself as a Byronesque figure circa 1810: you've got the poetry patter down, the ladies are fainting at the sound of your dulcet tones, all that's left is for you get the look.

    The Guardian World News 2009

Comments

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  • Cf. Byronic.

    February 15, 2017