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definitions

Pickwickian

[pik-wik-ee-uh n]
adjective
  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Mr. Pickwick, central character of The Pickwick Papers.
  2. (of the use or interpretation of an expression) intentionally or unintentionally odd or unusual.
  3. (of words or ideas) meant or understood in a sense different from the apparent or usual one.

Origin of Pickwickian

1830–40; Pickwick + -ian
Related formsPick·wick·i·an·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pickwickian

Historical Examples of pickwickian

  • But as he damned me only officially and in confidence, I took it in the Pickwickian sense.

    Memoirs

    Charles Godfrey Leland

  • Being “one of the oldest-established,” it must have been there at the time of the Pickwickian visit.

    Pickwickian Studies

    Percy Fitzgerald

  • “Flying the garter” is another of the Pickwickian boy games.

  • I meant it strictly in the Pickwickian sense, Tom hastened to explain.

  • But his intimate friend or two had a quality in common with the Pickwickian bottle or two.

    A Likely Story

    William De Morgan

British Dictionary definitions for pickwickian

Pickwickian

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or resembling Mr Pickwick in Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers, esp in being naive or benevolent
  2. (of the use or meaning of a word, etc) odd or unusual
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012