Joycean

American  

[joi-see-uhn] / ˈdʒɔɪ si ən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of James Joyce or his work.

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noun

1. a student of the life and work of James Joyce.

2. a person who favors or advocates the work, style, or methods of James Joyce.

3. an imitator of James Joyce.

Joycean British  

/ ˈdʒɔɪsɪən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or like James Joyce or his works

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noun

1. a student or admirer of Joyce or his works

Etymology

Origin of Joycean

First recorded in 1925–30; Joyce + -an

Example Sentences

He writes in the Joycean tradition: free-flowing, unhindered and specific.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

At 3,449 pages, the novel’s plot can be simply described as a Joycean voyage: A woman named Vera Cartwheel goes in search of her long-lost nanny, Miss MacIntosh.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2024

The first project brought together Palestinian and Syrian refugees, artists, scholars and a civil engineer to talk about the Joycean themes of migration, memory, histories and political and urban landscapes.

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2022

Believe it or not, there’s already stiff competition: a similar documentary from 2013, “The Joycean Society,” tackles “Finnegans Wake” in just under an hour.

From New York Times • Aug. 16, 2022

One can imagine a kind of Joycean superauthor, capable of any style, turning out spine-tingling suspense novels, massively researched biographies, and nuanced analyses of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 7, 2019