Parnassian

American  

[pahr-nas-ee-uhn] / pɑrˈnæs i ən /

adjective

1. pertaining to Mount Parnassus.

2. pertaining to poetry.

3. of, relating to, or noting a school of French poets of the latter half of the 19th century, characterized chiefly by a belief in art for art's sake, by an emphasis on metrical form, and by the repression of emotive elements: so called from Le Parnasse Contemporain, the title of their first collection of poems, published in 1866.

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noun

1. a member of the Parnassian school of French poets.

Parnassian ¹ British  

/ pɑːˈnæsɪən /

noun

1. one of a school of French poets of the late 19th century who wrote verse that emphasized metrical form and restricted emotion

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Parnassians or their poetry

Parnassian ² British  

/ pɑːˈnæsɪən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Mount Parnassus or poetry

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Other Word Forms

• Parnassianism
  noun
• Parnassism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Parnassian

First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin Parnassi(us) “of Parnassus ” + -an

Example Sentences

So, I got “I Am Charlotte Simmons” from the library, expecting Parnassian enlightenment about the four years ahead.

From Washington Post • May 2, 2019

Particularly jarring is a passage from “Funeral Toast,” in which Mallarmé celebrates his Parnassian predecessor Théophile Gautier:

From The New Yorker • Apr. 11, 2016

Kerouac had his idiom of blurts and riffs, and his eerie feel for interdimensional slippage or “skidding”; Waugh his indomitable humor and Parnassian superiority of style.

From Slate • Jan. 15, 2013

Here, as in all renditions of the story, Rimbaud, the brilliant, sneering student from Ardennes hits Paris and turns things topsy-turvy among the Parnassian poets of the time.

From New York Times • Aug. 23, 2011

I was delighted to observe that the comely young lady of such exquisite voice I had seen previously was returned, this maiden attended like one of the Parnassian sisters by a company of other songstresses.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson