Pecksniffian
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Pecksniffian
1850–55; named after Seth Pecksniff, character in Martin Chuzzlewit, a novel (1843) by Dickens; see -ian
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.
With another season underway, suspend your Pecksniffian disapproval of the college football industry’s recent upheavals.
From Washington Post • Sep. 28, 2022
Insults that are banned include "hypocrite", "blackguard" and "Pecksniffian cant", although only Jacob Rees-Mogg would use that last one these days.
From The Guardian • May 26, 2012
Tigg and Mark Tapley, the youthful Bailey, Charity with upturned nose, the sanctimonious Mercy and her Pecksniffian airs were all made up to perfection.
From Sixty Years of California Song by Alverson, Margaret Blake
And even when I come to feel a final incompatibility of temper, Pecksniff was not so Pecksniffian as he has since become.
From Utopia of Usurers and Other Essays by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)
He wore no phylacteries, and was as far away as possible from Pecksniffian pretensions.
From The Life of Phineas T. Barnum by Benton, Joel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
