Caliban

[ kal-uh-ban ]

/ ˈkæl əˌbæn /

noun

the ugly, beastlike slave of Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest.

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without interest or significance; dull; insipid.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for caliban

Clegg first introduces himself to Miranda as Ferdinand, but she later dubs him Caliban.
How to Understand the Criminal Mind By Reading This Novel|Casey N. Cep|December 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And cruder devices certainly deepen the effect of a name; Caliban is a rough anagram of “cannibal,” and Cassio contains an “ass.”
What’s in a Name? Writers and Their Anthroponymy|Anthony Paletta|February 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Half an hour after receipt of the message Seyd and Caliban were again on their way.
The Mystery of The Barranca|Herman Whitaker
Caliban, kal′i-ban, n. a man of beastly nature, from the monster in Shakespeare's Tempest.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)|Various

This being, in his strange manners and opinions, at least, appears to offer a realization of Shakspeare's idea of Caliban.
Personal Memoirs Of A Residence Of Thirty Years With The Indian Tribes On The American Frontiers|Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
Caliban represents the child of ignorance, closely allied to nature and partaking of its poetry and grandeur.
The Arena|Various
Swinging this furious Caliban clear of the ground and holding it well out from her body, she considered what to do next.
Sigurd Our Golden Collie and Other Comrades of the Road|Katharine Lee Bates

British Dictionary definitions for caliban

Caliban

/ (ˈkælɪˌbæn) /

noun

a brutish or brutalized man

Word Origin for Caliban

C19: after a character in Shakespeare's The Tempest (1611)

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