picaresque
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.
of, relating to, or resembling rogues.
Origin of picaresque
1Other words for picaresque
Other words from picaresque
- un·pic·a·resque, adjective
Words that may be confused with picaresque
- picaresque , picturesque
Words Nearby picaresque
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use picaresque in a sentence
That choice fits the comic’s loose, rambling picaresque, where getting too serious too often would harsh what’s compelling about the story, which is a group of characters bonding during the end of the world.
Like its groundbreaking predecessor, “Subsequent Moviefilm” is a raunchy, sharply political picaresque through the American heartland.
Movies are rushing to impact the election. Don’t ask whether they’ll work. Ask whether they’ll last. | Ann Hornaday | October 30, 2020 | Washington PostThat said, Waters has come a long way since the picaresque adventures of Nan and Kitty.
Sarah Waters’s New Novel Rewrites the Rules of Love | Lucy Scholes | September 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe picaresque escapades and legendary extravagances of the brothers are indulged with a collective wink.
How the Sultan of Brunei Violated His Sharia Law With Me | Jillian Lauren | May 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThey appear in alternate performances in a wonderfully picaresque Waiting for Godot.
10 Best Plays of the Year: Richard III, No Man’s Land, and More | Janice Kaplan | December 27, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Adam and Evelyn A romantic picaresque tale against the backdrop of a divided Germany.
Then there were some of the writers of the picaresque novels.
Lavengro | George BorrowEven regarded as an early attempt in the "picaresque" manner, it is abortive and only half organised.
The English Novel | George SaintsburyThe tone of the Spanish and French picaresque novel had never been high: but it is curiously degraded in this English example.
The English Novel | George SaintsburyIt belongs to that class of novel known as picaresque—romances of adventures and battles.
A picaresque novel is only a very eventful biography; but the opening of Bleak House is quite another business altogether.
Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens | G. K. Chesterton
British Dictionary definitions for picaresque
/ (ˌpɪkəˈrɛsk) /
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
of or involving rogues or picaroons
Origin of picaresque
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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