picaresque
Americanadjective
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pertaining to, characteristic of, or characterized by a form of prose fiction, originally developed in Spain, in which the adventures of an engagingly roguish hero are described in a series of usually humorous or satiric episodes that often depict, in realistic detail, the everyday life of the common people.
picaresque novel; picaresque hero.
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of, relating to, or resembling rogues.
adjective
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of or relating to a type of fiction in which the hero, a rogue, goes through a series of episodic adventures. It originated in Spain in the 16th century
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of or involving rogues or picaroons
Other Word Forms
- unpicaresque adjective
Etymology
Origin of picaresque
First recorded in 1800–10; from Spanish picaresco; picaro, -esque
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The 18th century teemed with picaresque tales of comic misadventure.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026
The sprawling, picaresque story uses 18th-century literary conventions to chronicle the adventures of Ebenezer Cooke, who takes possession of a tobacco farm in Maryland.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 2, 2024
“Three frenzied but unhurried hours” of “emotional annihilation” of a “battered, petrified soul” on “the bleakest of picaresque journeys.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2023
“Oreo” is satire and metafiction, a picaresque and a bildungsroman.
From New York Times • Mar. 7, 2023
When Edward Abbey was writing The Monkey Wrench Gang, his picaresque novel about eco-terrorism in the canyon country, his pal Ken Sleight was said to have inspired the character Seldom Seen Smith.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
