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
- unpicaresque adjective
Etymology
Origin of picaresque
First recorded in 1800–10; from Spanish picaresco; picaro, -esque
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.
But that would deprive us of Courage’s wild picaresque through a rural and ravaged America.
From Los Angeles Times
But the story’s many twists and hair’s-breadth escapes — its devolution into a Holocaust picaresque — lack the foundation of historical truth that undergirded the writer’s debut effort.
From Los Angeles Times
“The book is also a comedy, and there is a picaresque quality to it that Justin made a brilliant adaptation of, because it’s a romantic movie, but it’s also very funny.”
From Los Angeles Times
He sees himself as a picaresque hero in the novel that exists in his mind — and forces the rest of us to deal with it.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
