Falstaffian

[fawl-staf-ee-uh n]

adjective

of, relating to, or having the qualities of Falstaff, especially his robust, bawdy humor, good-natured rascality, and brazen braggadocio: Falstaffian wit.

Origin of Falstaffian

First recorded in 1800–10; Falstaff + -ian

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for falstaffian

Contemporary Examples of falstaffian

He was trying to sell the case for military action with the testimonial equivalent of Falstaffian soliloquies.
Syria: What Have We Learned?
Leslie H. Gelb
September 12, 2013

Historical Examples of falstaffian

But I checked him in that Falstaffian vein, urging considerations of time and cookery.
The Uncommercial Traveller
Charles Dickens
Why the hacking of the Falstaffian sword with the Falstaffian dagger?
The Life Of Sir John Falstaff
Robert B. Brough
Yet he contains the Falstaffian elements and preciously preserves them.
A Novelist on Novels
W. L. George
Aurora, in the vein of funny stories, could upon occasion be Falstaffian.
Aurora the Magnificent
Gertrude Hall
He was not far to fetch, and he was in a humor of Falstaffian heartiness.
What Will People Say?
Rupert Hughes

British Dictionary definitions for falstaffian

Falstaffian

adjective

jovial, plump, and dissolute

Word Origin for Falstaffian

C19: after Sir John Falstaff, a character in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts I–II (1597)

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