picaresque

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (1)  · 
“
They belonged mostly to that class of realistic fiction which is called picaresque, from the Spanish word 'picaro,' a rogue, because it began in Spain with the 'Lazarillo de Tormes' of Diego de Mendoza, in 1553, and because its heroes are knavish serving-boys or similar characters whose unprincipled tricks and exploits formed the substance of the stories.

View all »
Definitions (6)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. adjective Of or involving clever rogues or adventurers.
  2. adjective Of or relating to a genre of usually satiric prose fiction originating in Spain and depicting in realistic, often humorous detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social degree living by his or her wits in a corrupt society.
  3. noun One that is picaresque.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (1)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • There are those which have been frankly picaresque, as in the affair at ‘Mystery Mile’, the business at Pontisbright, published under the title of ‘Sweet Danger’, and several others. —  Death of a Ghost - Margery Allingham - Campion 06
  • This cetacean picaresque is no fluke—it is a sure winner Publishers Weekly (starred review) Lamb An instant classic…. —  The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
  • The surface of the plot is a picaresque, but somehow it's all adding up to something Simultaneously, we also start to learn a bit more about the science fiction underpinnings of the story. —  Challenging Destiny - 2005 - 21
  • The strived-for atmosphere is whimsical and picaresque, the results mostly tedious. —  Broward-Palm Beach New Times | Complete Issue
  • The strived-for atmosphere is whimsical and picaresque, the results - save for Benjamin's brief dalliance with the coolly amused wife (Tilda Swinton) of a British spy in Murmansk - mostly tedious. —  Miami New Times | Complete Issue
More examples »
 

Tags

picaresque hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 373 times.

1 person has marked this word as a favorite.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French, from Spanish picaresco, from pícaro, picaro; see picaro.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. French, from Spanish picaresco (= Portuguese picaresco), from picaro, a rogue: see picaro.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/pɪkəˈrɛsk/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about once a year.

Recently looked up

zeitgeist · amazed · maintaining · kl · cross

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

Kansas City · spell it rite · put it in your pocket · A fly and a flea flew into a flue · She sells seashells by the seashore