Pecksniffian
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- Pecksniffery noun
- Pecksniffianism noun
- Pecksniffism noun
Etymology
Origin of Pecksniffian
1850–55; named after Seth Pecksniff, character in Martin Chuzzlewit, a novel (1843) by Dickens; -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
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Pickwickian, Bumbledom, Gradgrind, Podsnappery, Pecksniffian and the Artful Dodger have also escaped from the novels in which they first appeared to designate types of humanity.
From The Guardian • Dec. 2, 2017
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
Susan Hetth, shocked to the limit of her Pecksniffian soul, made a nerveless fluttering gesture of protest with her hands.
From Leonie of the Jungle by Conquest, Joan
He was, after a fashion, a Pecksniffian man, this Henry Ham.
From The Sea Bride by Williams, Ben Ames
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.
