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Arcadian

American  
[ahr-kay-dee-uhn] / ɑrˈkeɪ di ən /

adjective

  1. of Arcadia.

  2. (often lowercase) rural, rustic, or pastoral, especially suggesting simple, innocent contentment.

    They shared the desire to live off the land and lead a life of Arcadian bliss.


noun

  1. a native of Arcadia.

  2. the dialect of ancient Greek spoken in Arcadia.

Arcadian British  
/ ɑːˈkeɪdɪən /

adjective

  1. of or relating to Arcadia or its inhabitants, esp the idealized Arcadia of pastoral poetry

  2. rustic or bucolic

    a life of Arcadian simplicity

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. an inhabitant of Arcadia

  2. a person who leads or prefers a quiet simple rural life

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of Arcadian

First recorded in 1580–90; Arcadi(a) + -an


Vocabulary lists containing arcadian

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.

See Examples For:

In John Knowles’s portrait of the boys’ Arcadian lives, World War II seems very far away.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025

Those boneless fingers by her face serve multiple functions, implying her erudition in the Arcadian reference and her accustomed leisure in their languorous droop.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2022

All this Arcadian plenty has tempted in the carnivores, who crept in quietly at first, testing the waters.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 24, 2020

The area is known for its Arcadian beauty.

From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2020

Then they descended out of the America of factory work and tyrannical foremen into an Arcadian grotto of forgetfulness.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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