Shakespearean

American  

[sheyk-speer-ee-uhn] / ʃeɪkˈspɪər i ən /

Or Shakespearian

adjective

1. of, relating to, or suggestive of Shakespeare or his works.

---

noun

1. a Shakespearean scholar; a specialist in the study of the works of Shakespeare.

Shakespearean British  

/ ʃeɪkˈspɪərɪən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Shakespeare or his works

---

noun

1. a student of or specialist in Shakespeare's works

Other Word Forms

• Shakespeareanism
  noun
• Shakespearianism
  noun
• half-Shakespearean
  adjective
• non-Shakespearean
  adjective
• non-Shakespearian
  adjective
• post-Shakespearean
  adjective
• post-Shakespearian
  adjective
• pre-Shakespearean
  adjective
• pre-Shakespearian
  adjective
• pseudo-Shakespearean
  adjective
• pseudo-Shakespearian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Shakespearean

First recorded in 1810–20; Shakespeare + -an

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Shakespearean

Macmillan said he wanted to create something "on the scale of a Shakespearean tragedy and a Shakespearean history".

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

Start plotting your Roth conversions in a manner akin to a Shakespearean conspiracist.

From MarketWatch ● May 21, 2026

Just before his dinner toast, Charles quoted a Shakespearean plea for peace -- but ended with a winking reference.

From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026

Wildly digressive, buzzing with literary allusions and telling its story as a 20th-century Shakespearean tragedy, the book has some of the mad, restless energy of Sellers himself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026

From all the Shakespearean paraphernalia hanging on the walls, I’m guessing we’re in an English classroom.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan