Nabokovian

American  

[nab-uh-koh-vee-uhn] / ˌnæb əˈkoʊ vi ən /

adjective

1. of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or resembling the literary style of Vladimir Nabokov.

   a sly, Nabokovian sense of the absurd.

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Etymology

Origin of Nabokovian

First recorded in 1955–60; Nabokov + -ian

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Nabokovian

Mr. Lanchester is a magnetic writer who combines the skills of a social realist with this penchant for Nabokovian black humor and narrative trickery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026

Hart’s book has all the makings of a campus novel that could veer off into Nabokovian or even Verhoevian territory.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2022

Occasionally, too, sentences attain a fleeting, Nabokovian beauty: “We rounded a bend in the road and a cloud of pale blue butterflies appeared before us, blown in perhaps from another part of the world.”

From Washington Post ● Nov. 22, 2021

He, not Ferrante, seems to be the fictional persona, a puffed-up pedant straight out of Nabokov, right down to his Nabokovian name: Claudio the Cat, prowling around in search of secrets.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 3, 2016

Ms. Ross takes a cultivated and nearly Nabokovian joy in the English language.

From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2015