picaresque
Americanadjective
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pertaining to, characteristic of, or characterized by a form of prose fiction, originally developed in Spain, in which the adventures of an engagingly roguish hero are described in a series of usually humorous or satiric episodes that often depict, in realistic detail, the everyday life of the common people.
picaresque novel; picaresque hero.
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of, relating to, or resembling rogues.
adjective
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of or relating to a type of fiction in which the hero, a rogue, goes through a series of episodic adventures. It originated in Spain in the 16th century
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of or involving rogues or picaroons
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of picaresque
First recorded in 1800–10; from Spanish picaresco; see picaro, -esque
Explanation
Use the adjective picaresque to describe your favorite kind of story, if it involves characters having exciting, dangerous adventures. A picaresque novel features clever adventurers, often poor but spunky heroes who live by their wits and come out ahead in the end. This kind of book first became popular in Spain in the 1500s. Well known authors, including Charles Dickens and Mark Twain, later used a picaresque style for some of their work. It's easy to confuse picaresque, "rascally," with its near sound-alike, picturesque, or "lovely to look at."
Vocabulary lists containing picaresque
Into the Wild
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2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 2
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Literary Genres - Advanced
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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.
The 18th century teemed with picaresque tales of comic misadventure.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026
“Number Go Up” is a globe-trotting nonfiction picaresque that’s as much fun as you can have reading about financial malfeasance and blockchain scams.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 22, 2023
Seattle Times reviewer Wingate Packard called this 1950s road-trip tale “a hefty slab of clever storytelling,” adding that “Towles plays stylishly with elements of the picaresque, the coming-of-age novel and the epic quest.”
From Seattle Times • Mar. 27, 2023
Or at least, that’s the most generous reading of this perverse picaresque.
From Washington Post • Nov. 22, 2022
When Edward Abbey was writing The Monkey Wrench Gang, his picaresque novel about eco-terrorism in the canyon country, his pal Ken Sleight was said to have inspired the character Seldom Seen Smith.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
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.
